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THE BRIDGEWATER TREATISES 

ON THE POWER WISDOM AND GOODNESS OF GOD 
AS MANIFESTED IN THE CREATION 



TREATISE II. 

ON THE ADAPTATION OF EXTERNAL NATURE TO 
THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN 

BY J. KIDD, M. D. 



THOU MADEST HIM TO HAVE DOMINION OVER THE WORKS OF THY HANDS ; 
THOU HAST PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET. 

PSALM VIII. 6 



ON THE ADAPTATION OF EXTERNAL 
NATURE TO THE PHYSICAL 
CONDITION OF MAN, 



PRINCIPALLY WITH REFERENCE TO THE SUPPLY OF HIS 
WANTS, AND THE EXERCISE OF HIS INTEL- 
LECTUAL FACULTIES. 

BY 

JOHN KIDD, M.D. F.R.S. 

REGIUS mOFESSOR OF MEDICINE IN THE 
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 



ALDI 




eT /, -V f 
LONDON : 

WILLIAM PICKERING. 

1833. 



~3L US 

I 8 33 



OXFORD, 

PRINTED BY S. COLLINGWOOD, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY. 



By transfer from 
Pat. Office Lib. 
April 1914. 



TO 



HIS GRACE 

THE 

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 

MY LORD, 

Having been appointed to write the follow- 
ing Treatise by the late President of the 
Royal Society, in consequence of your Grace's 
recommendation, it was natural that I should 
be desirous of publickly acknowledging the 
high honour thus conferred upon me. 

I therefore request you to accept my respect- 
ful thanks for permitting me to inscribe this 
Treatise with your Grace's name : assuring 
you that, however inadequately I may have 
been found to answer your expectation in the 



Vi DEDICATION. 

execution, I have not applied myself to the 
task committed to me, without the exertion 
of much thought, and the strongest desire of 
so executing it, as to justify your Grace's fa- 
vourable opinion. 

I have the honour to be, 
My Lord, 
with the greatest respect, 
Your Grace's most obliged 

and obedient Servant, 

J. Kidd. 



Oxford, 
March 15, 1833. 



PREFACE. 



THE occasion which gave rise to this and the 
accompanying Treatises is explained in the fol- 
lowing notice : but the Author of the present 
Treatise thinks it right to add, that, although 
encouraged by the honour of having been re- 
commended by His Grace the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, he should have shrunk from his 
present attempt, had he considered that any 
exact elucidation of the details of science was 
required in the execution of it. 

As, however, the intention of Lord Bridge- 
water, and the very extent and diversified na- 
ture of the subject, seemed to him almost neces- 
sarily to exclude any great exactness of eluci- 
dation, and to require a popular rather than a 
scientific exposition of facts ; and as the whole 
tenour of his pursuits during the last thirty 
years of his life accorded with the character of 
the proposed subject; he the more readily un- 
dertook a task, to the execution of which he 



viii 



PREFACE. 



could not but look forward with much pleasure. 
And if he should in any instance stimulate the 
reader to examine the question with any por- 
tion of the interest and satisfaction with which 
he has himself examined it, he is confident that 
he shall not have laboured in vain. 

It will be for others to determine whether a 
judicious selection and a sufficiently natural ar- 
rangement of the materials of the following 
Treatise have been adopted : but to those, who 
may think that many of the subjects have been 
treated too cursorily, the Author begs leave to 
point out the extensive range afforded by so 
wide a field of inquiry ; and the consequent 
necessity of compression in each particular ; the 
subject of this Treatise being in fact an epitome 
of the subjects of almost all the others. He also 
considers it right to state, that it is the imme- 
diate object of the Treatise itself to unfold a train 
of facts, not to maintain an argument ; to give 
a general view of the adaptation of the external 
world to the physical condition of man, not to 
attempt formally to convince the reader that 
this adaptation is a proof either of the existence 



PREFACE. 



ix 



and omnipotence of the Deity, or of his bene- 
ficence and wisdom ; though undoubtedly it 
is hoped by the writer, as it was intended by 
the munificent individual who originally pro- 
posed the general subject of this and the ac- 
companying Treatises, that such a conviction, 
if not already existing, may be produced by 
its perusal. Without questioning, therefore, on 
the present occasion, the intellectual powers or 
the moral motives of those who profess them- 
selves sceptics with respect to either natural or 
revealed religion, the Author addresses himself 
exclusively to those who are believers in both 
the one and the other. With respect indeed to 
a disbelief in the basis of natural religion, he 
must ever feel assured, as in another place he 
has expressed himself, that, however easy it 
may be to account for the external profession of 
a disbelief in God, the supposition of the exist- 
ence of intellectual atheism involves an intel- 
lectual absurdity. With respect to the truth of 
Revelation, although the subject of this Treatise 
is not directly connected with that question, he 
w ould still wish to consider himself as addressing 
those only who with himself believe that the 



X PREFACE. 

objects which surround us in our present state 
of existence, and which are so obviously in- 
tended to advance the general powers and fa- 
culties of Man, without advancing the powers 
and faculties of any other animal, are purposely 
destined to produce an ulterior and higher effect ; 
the nature of which effect is to be learnt from 
the doctrines of Revelation alone. And he has 
thought it right to say thus much on the general 
subject of religion, not merely for the purpose of 
recording his own sentiments ; but that, in pro- 
fessing to address those only who believe in re- 
vealed as well as in natural religion, if on any 
occasion he should assume the truth of Revela- 
tion, he may not be with justice accused of 
taking that for granted, of which the reader 
doubts. 



NOTICE. 



The series of Treatises, of which the present is one, is 
published under the following circumstances : 

The Right Honourable and Reverend Francis 
Henry, Earl of Bridgewater, died in the month of 
February, 1829 ; and by his last Will and Testament, bear- 
ing date the 25th of February, 1825, he directed certain 
Trustees therein named to invest in the public funds the 
sum of eight thousand pounds sterling ; this sum, with 
the accruing dividends thereon, to be held at the disposal 
of the President, for the time being, of the Royal Society 
of London, to be paid to the person or persons nominated 
by him. The Testator further directed, that the person or 
persons selected by the said President should be appointed 
to write, print, and publish one thousand copies of a work 
On the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of' God, as mani- 
fested in the Creation ; illustrating such work by all reason- 
able arguments ; as for instance the variety and formation of 
God's creatures in the animal, vegetable, and mineral king- 
doms ; the effect of digestion, and thereby of conversion ; 
the construction of the hand of man, and an infinite variety 
of other arguments ; as also by discoveries ancient and 
modem, in arts, sciences, and the zvhole extent of literature. 
He desired, moreover, that the profits arising from the sale 
of the works so published should be paid to the authors of 
the works. 



xii 



The late President of the Royal Society, Davies Gilbert, 
Esq. requested the assistance of his Grace the Archbishop 
of Canterbury and of the Bishop of London, in determining 
upon the best mode of carrying into effect the intentions of 
the Testator. Acting with their advice, and with the con- 
currence of a nobleman immediately connected with the 
deceased, Mr. Davies Gilbert appointed the following eight 
gentlemen to write separate Treatises on the different 
branches of the subject, as here stated : 

THE REV. THOMAS CHALMERS, D.D. 

PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. 

ON THE ADAPTATION OF EXTERNAL NATURE TO THE 
MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL CONSTITUTION OF MAN. 



JOHN KIDD, M.D. F. R. S. 

REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 

ON THE ADAPTATION OF EXTERNAL NATURE TO THE 
PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 



THE REV. WILLIAM WHEWELL, M.A. F.R.S. 

FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 

ON ASTRONOMY AND GENERAL PHYSICS. 



SIR CHARLES BELL, K. H. F.R.S. 

THE HAND: ITS MECHANISM AND VITAL ENDOWMENTS 
AS EVINCING DESIGN. 



PETER MARK ROGET, M.D. 

FELLOW OF AND SECRETARY TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 

ON ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY. 



xiii 



THE REV. WILLIAM BUCKLAND, D.D. F.R.S. 

CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH AND PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY IN THE 
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 

ON GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 



THE REV. WILLIAM KIRBY, M. A. F.R.S. 

ON THE HISTORY, HABITS, AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. 



WILLIAM PROUT, M.D. F.R.S. 

ON CHEMISTRY, METEOROLOGY, AND THE FUNCTION 
OF DIGESTION. 



His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, Presi- 
dent of the Royal Society, having desired that no unneces- 
sary delay should take place in the publication of the 
above mentioned treatises, they will appear at short inter- 
vals, as they are ready for publication. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 



CHAP. I. Introduction 1 

Sect. I. The Physical Condition of Man ib. 

II. The general Constitution of external Nature 4 

CHAP. II. The Physical Character of Man 9 

Sect. I. The Physical Character of Man, compared 

with that of other Animals ib. 

II. Differences in the Form of the Infant and of 
the Adult ; particularly with reference to the 
Spine 12 

III. Physical Superiority of Man, on what Prin- 
ciple to be estimated 18 

IV. Early and gradual Developement of the in- 
tellectual Faculties of Man . . 22 

CHAP. III. On the Powers of the human Hand, 

CONSIDERED AS A CORPOREAL ORGAN 28 

CHAP. IV. On the Brain, considered as the Organ 

of the Intellectual Faculties 43 

CHAP. V. The Nervous System of Animals in 

GENERAL 47 

Sect. I. The Nervous System of the inferior Animals. . ib. 

II. The Nervous System of Man 53 

III. Indications of natural Talent and Disposition 
deducible from the Structure of the Brain. ... 59 

IV. The general Doctrine of Physiognomy, as 
connected with the Form of the Body 67 

V. The Developement of the Human Brain, com- 
pared with that of other Animals 73 

VI. Cursory View of the Extent of Human Power 
over the Objects of the external World J6 



CONTENTS. 



XV 



Page 

CHAP. VI. Adaptation of the Atmosphere to the 



Wants of Man 80 

Sect. I. The general Constitution of the Atmosphere . . ib. 

II. Light 83 

III. Heat 95 

IV. The general Uses of Water 107 

V. Baths 112 

VI. The Fluidity of Water 118 

VII. The natural Sources of Water 123 

VIII. The Air of the Atmosphere, as connected 
with Respiration 126 

IX. Effects of the Motion of the Air, as con- 
nected with Human Health, &c 133 

X. Effects of the Motion of the Air, as con- 
nected with the Arts, &c 144 

CHAP. VII. Adaptation of Minerals to the Phy- 
sical Condition of Man 152 

Sect. L The general Characters of Minerals ib. 

II. Application of Minerals to Architecture and 
Sculpture 154 

III. Gems and precious Stones 168 

IV. The Distribution and relative Proportions of 
Sea and Land • and the geological Arrangement 
and physical Character of some of the super- 
ficial Strata of the Earth 173 

V. Beds of Gravel 176 

VI. Metals 187 

VII. Common Salt, &c 199 

CHAP. VIII. Adaptation of Vegetables to the Phy- 
sical Condition of Man 202 

Sect. I. General Observations on the Vegetable King- 
dom ib. 

II. The Cocoa-nut Tree, including the Formation 

of Coral Reefs 204 

III. Vegetables as a Source of Food 216 

IV. Vegetables as applicable to Medicine 225 

V. Vegetables as applicable to the Arts, &c 232 



xvi 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

CHAP. IX. Adaptation of Animals to the Physical 

Condition of Man 243 

Sect. I. General Observations on the Animal Kingdom ib. 

II. Geographical Distribution of Animals 248 

III. The Camel 249 

IV. Domestication of Animals 258 

V. Animals as a Source of Food 264 

VI. Manufacture of Sal Ammoniac 267 

VII. Animals as a Source of Clothing, &c 270 

CHAP. X. Adaptation of the external World to 

the Exercise of the Intellectual Faculties 

of Man 273 

Sect. I. On the Rise and Progress of Human Know- 
ledge ib. 

II. Opinions of Lucretius on the constitution of 
Matter in general ; and on the Nature of 
Light, Heat, Water, and Air 286 

III. Opinions of the Ancients on the Organization 
and Classification of Animals , 298 

IV. On those Animal Forms called Monsters, or 
Lusus Naturae 334 

CHAP. XI. Conclusion 339 

APPENDIX 347 



ON THE 

ADAPTATION OF EXTERNAL NATURE 

TO THE 

PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction. 

SECT. I. 
The Physical Condition of' Man. 

When Hamlet, in contemplating the grandeur 
of creation, breaks forth into that sublime apo- 
strophe on man — " How noble in reason ! how 
4 4 infinite in faculties ! in form and moving, how 
44 express and admirable ! in action, how like an 
44 angel ! in apprehension, how like a God ! the 
44 beauty of the world ! the paragon of ani- 
44 mals!" — who does not feel elated by the de- 
scription? who does not feel conscious of its 
truth ? 

Nor is its truth the less admissible, because 
the poet, in concentrating the powers of his 
imagination on the excellences of that work of 

B 



2 



INTRODUCTION. 



creation which bears the stamp of the Creator's 
image, has omitted to present to onr view the 
reverse of the impression, the frailty namely of 
our fallen nature : for although, on moral and 
religious considerations, each individual is bound 
habitually to take the one view in conjunction 
with the other ; in a simply philosophical con- 
templation of human nature we are not pre- 
cluded by any reasonable barrier, from taking 
such a partial view of the subject as the occa- 
sion may suggest. 

In the present instance, indeed, I am strictly 
called upon to consider, not the moral, but the 
physical condition of man: and to examine how 
far the state of external nature is adapted to that 
condition ; whether we regard the provisions 
made for the supply of man's ivants, either natural 
or acquired; or those which are made for the 
exercise of his intellectual facidties. The follow- 
ing treatise naturally, therefore, divides itself 
into two parts : in the first of which it is in- 
tended to investigate and describe the physical 
condition of man ; in the second, the adaptation 
of external nature to that condition. 

But a wide field here opens to our view : for 
man cannot, under any circumstances, be con- 
sidered as an insulated being ; or unconnected 
with the rest of animated nature. He is indeed 
but one link in the great chain of animal crea- 
tion ; and not only does the contemplation of his 



INTRODUCTION. 



3 



condition lose half its interest, if separated from 
the contemplation of the condition of other ani- 
mals ; but it cannot be satisfactorily investigated 
without that aid. And, again, animal life itself 
is but one among many modes of existence, by 
which the Creator has manifested his omnipo- 
tence ; and which it is necessary to contemplate 
in connexion with the general phenomena of 
nature, in order to shew the superiority of that 
province, at the head of which human beings 
have been placed. 

In attempting however to form a just estimate 
of the physical condition of man, we must not 
regard him merely under the aspect of savage 
or uncivilized life, and consider this as his na- 
tural state : for it may be presumed that, at the 
present day, such a puerile view of the question 
is not for a moment entertained by any one 
capable of philosophical reflection. In fact, in 
as many different states as man does actually 
exist, civilized or savage, so many are his na- 
tural states. If any indeed could be preemi- 
nently called his natural state, it would be that 
of civilization : for not only does experience 
shew that his natural tendency is towards such a 
state ; but we know, from the highest authority, 
that the existence of man is connected with a 
moral end; (with more indeed than a moral end; 
since morals have immediately a relation to this 
life only, while man is destined for a future;) 

B 2 



4 



INTRODUCTION. 



and a moral end is hardly attainable in an un- 
civilized state of society. 

SECT. II. 

The general Constitution of' external Nature. 

The more familiar objects of that external 
world by which man is surrounded are usually 
distributed into three kingdoms, as they are 
called ; the animal, vegetable, and mineral : but 
for the purpose of this treatise it will be neces- 
sary to take into our account the phenomena of 
the atmosphere also. 

The atmosphere principally consists of the air 
which we respire ; (a form of matter so subtle, 
in all its states, as to be invisible ;) together with 
a variable proportion of 'water, of which a part 
is always retained in close combination with the 
air ; and, like the air itself, exists always in an 
invisible state. There are also diffused through 
the atmosphere those still more subtle agents, 
heat and electricity. But all these, though of so 
subtle a substance, are in their occasional effects 
the most powerful agents of nature. For, omit- 
ting the consideration of their silent but wonder- 
ful operation, as exhibited in the process of vege- 
tation, and in many other processes less open to 
observation, let us consider the occasional effects 
of air in the violence of a tornado ; or of water, 
in the inundation of a rapid river : or let us con- 
template the effect of either an indefinite dimi- 



INTRODUCTION. 



5 



nution or increase of heat ; on the one hand, the 
natural process of animal decomposition arrested 
by its abstraction, so that the imbedded mam- 
moth remains at this moment in the same state 
that it was four thousand years ago ; and in 
which, under the same circumstances, it un- 
doubtedly would be, four thousand or four mil- 
lion years hence ; on the other hand, the possi- 
bility of the dissipation of all the constituent 
parts of matter, or their fixation in the state of 
glass, resulting from the agency of indefinitely 
increased heat : or, lastly, let us consider the 
tremendous effects of condensed electricity in 
the form of lightning : — and we shall necessarily 
acknowledge that though in their usual state the 
constituents of the atmosphere are among the 
most tranquil agents of nature, yet, when their 
power is concentrated, they are the most awfully 
energetic. 

In the mineral kingdom the most characteristic 
property of the several species appears to be a 
disposition to a peculiar mode of mutual attrac- 
tion among the particles composing the indivi- 
duals belonging to them ; from which attraction, 
when exerted under the most favourable circum- 
stances, result that symmetry and regularity of 
form, to which the term crystal has been ap- 
plied. The transparency and degree of hard- 
ness of crystals are various, and depend much 
upon external circumstances. The form is f inula - 

b 3 



6 



INTRODUCTION. 



mentally the same for each species, though ca- 
pable of being modified according to known 
laws ; and the substance is chemically the same 
throughout its whole extent. Every atom of a 
crystallized mass of gypsum consists of water, 
lime, and sulphuric acid, united in the same pro- 
portions as are found to exist in the whole mass, 
or in any given part of it. 

The individuals of the veg etable kingdom differ 
very remarkably from those of the mineral, both 
in form and substance. In their form we see 
nothing like the mathematical precision of crys- 
tallization ; and in their substance they differ 
widely, according to the part of the vegetable 
which is examined : so that, independently of 
previous knowledge of the species, we could 
hardly discover any natural relation between 
the several constituent parts of the individual. 
What is there in the insulated leaf of a rose or 
of a peach tree, that would lead us to expect the 
fruit of the one or the flower of the other? But 
the most remarkable line of distinction between 
vegetables and the individuals of the preceding 
kingdom consists in their mode of increase and 
reproduction. Minerals can only increase, as 
such, by the apposition of particles specifically 
similar to themselves ; and can only be originally 
produced by the immediate combination of their 
constituent elements. But vegetables have an 
apparatus within them, by means of which they 



INTRODUCTION. 



7 



can assimilate the heterogeneous particles of the 
surrounding soil to their own nature ; and they 
have also the power of producing individuals 
specifically the same as themselves : in common 
language, they are capable of contributing to 
their own growth, and to the continuation of 
their species. And as they produce these effects 
by means of internal organs adapted to the pur- 
pose, they are hence denominated organized 
bodies. 

The individuals of the animal kingdom very 
closely resemble those of the vegetable in the 
two properties just described. The respective 
organs differ, as we might expect, in their form 
and position ; but in their functions or mode of 
action, there is a strong analogy, and even simi- 
larity, throughout. But animals differ from vege- 
tables more remarkably than these do from every 
unorganized form of matter, in being endued 
with sensation and volition ; properties which 
extend the sphere of their relations to such a 
degree, as to raise them immeasurably above 
all other forms of matter in the scale of ex- 
istence. 

In distributing the individuals of the material 
world among these four kingdoms of nature, 
there occasionally prevails considerable ob- 
scurity, not only with respect to the true place 
which an individual ought to occupy in the 
scale of a particular kingdom ; but even with 

b4 



8 



INTRODUCTION. 



respect to the question, under which of the four 
kingdoms it ought to be arranged ; this ob- 
scurity arising of course from the points of re- 
semblance apparently balancing, or more than 
balancing, the points of difference. Let us for 
instance, in the atmospherical kingdom, take a 
fragment of a perfectly transparent crystal of 
pure ice ; and, under ordinary circumstances, it 
would be difficult, either by the sight or the 
touch, to distinguish it from a fragment of trans- 
parent quartz, or rock crystal : indeed the trans- 
fer of the original term KpyuTaXXos, from the one 
to the other, shews the close resemblance of the 
two. Some minerals again so nearly resemble 
vegetables in form, as to have given rise to spe- 
cific terms of appellation, derived from the vege- 
table kingdom ; as flos ferri, mineral agaric, &c. 
And, lastly, many of the animals called sea-ane- 
mones so far resemble the flower called by the 
same name, that their real character is at first 
very doubtful to those who are unacquainted 
with the animals of that genus. But, omitting 
these rare and equivocal instances, and avoiding 
the confinement of abstract definitions, we may 
safely affirm that, of all the kingdoms of nature, 
the individuals of the animal kingdom have the 
most extensive and important relations to the 
surrounding universe. And I need not here in- 
sist on the obvious inference, that if among the 
kingdoms of nature animals hold the first rank, 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 



9 



in consequence of the importance of these rela- 
tions, among animals themselves the first rank 
must be assigned to man. 



CHAP. II. 

The Physical Character of Man. 

SECT. I. 

The Physical Character of' Man, compared with that of 
otlier Animals. 

Although, when viewed in the aggregate 
of his faculties, moral as well as physical, man 
confessedly holds the first rank among animals ; 
yet, if we exclude from our consideration those 
intellectual powers and moral qualities by which 
he is essentially characterized, and confine our 
view to his mere animal nature, we find that he 
scarcely differs in any important point from any 
of the species of the higher classes. In each 
there is the same necessity for air, and sleep, 
and food ; and the nature of the food and the 
mode of its digestion are not materially dif- 
ferent : the nutrient fluid extracted by the pro- 
cess of digestion is converted into blood of the 
same character, and distributed in the same 
maimer through the system: the constituent 
parts of the body and their mode of growth are 
almost precisely the same ; for the bone, muscle, 



10 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 



tendon, skin, hair, and brain of the horse, or 
deer, or tiger, or bear, scarcely differ in their 
physical or chemical characters from the corre- 
spondent parts in man : similar secretions, as the 
bile, tears, and saliva, are separated by similarly 
constructed organs ; and similar parts become 
similarly diseased : the special senses of sight, 
hearing, taste, and smell, are exercised through 
the medium of similar organs, simply modified 
according to the particular wants of individual 
species : the sources of mere bodily pain or plea- 
sure are generally the same : the instinctive af- 
fections, passions, and propensities are the same, 
and are manifested in the same way ; the angry 
look of a dog, for instance, bespeaking the inter- 
nal feeling as strongly as that of the man ; and 
the playful and rapid movements of the young 
puppy resembling the careless hilarity of child- 
hood, no less than the stayed motions and wary 
eye of the aged hound resemble the sedateness 
of the aged human being. 

Probably, however, it would be nearer the 
truth, were we to say that man, if divested of his 
intellectual powers, and endued merely with his 
animal nature, would be inferior to the brutes ; 
for, possessing, as is the case, very few of the 
prospective or preservative instincts, he would 
be unable, without the aid of his intellectual 
powers, to provide for some of his most impe- 
rious wants. 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 11 

But we may go even further than this. Let 
us suppose, for instance, a community of human 
individuals, who, though not gifted with a suffi- 
cient degree of intellectual powers to instruct 
others, or improve themselves, were yet endued 
with them to a degree sufficient to render them, 
if the opportunity offered, docile to a certain ex- 
tent, and capable of executing many of the com- 
mon offices of life ; (and what town or village 
does not present to our observation individual 
instances of such unhappy shadows of human 
nature?) how could a community like this exist; 
in which, though all, by the terms of the suppo- 
sition, were capable of learning something, yet 
none would be capable of teaching any thing? 
of what use under these circumstances would be 
that " instrument of instruments" the human 
hand, where there was no presiding mind to 
direct its movements ? And, with respect to that 
wonderful auxiliary of the human powers, how 
incorrect is the reflection of those who have as- 
serted that men are superior to brutes, only be- 
cause they possess this instrument: and how 
truly philosophical is the opposite reflection, 
that man is not superior to other animals be- 
cause he possesses this instrument ; but he is 
provided with such an instrument precisely be- 
cause he is already superior to all other animals. 
And the converse is equally true, that, with in- 
tellectual powers of even a higher order than 



12 PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 

those which they already possess, human beings 
could not live in a state of society, could hardly 
indeed exist in any state, unless furnished with 
such an instrument as the hand. 

SECT. II. 

Differences in the Form of the Infant and of the Adult; 
particularly with reference to the Spine. 

And yet, notwithstanding the confessed supe- 
riority of man, if we view him only in the in- 
fancy of his individual existence, what is there 
that is calculated to give an earnest of his future 
vigour and activity, either with respect to bodily 
or mental powers ; and what are all the advan- 
tages of the external world to a creature so ut- 
terly helpless, so utterly incapable of using or 
even passively enjoying them? In fact, with the 
exception of a very few instinctive rather than 
voluntary acts, such as that of deriving its nutri- 
ment from the mother's breast, the infant is, from 
the feebleness of its powers, incapable of efficient 
exertion ; and depends entirely on the assistance 
of those around it. 

The physical differences, observable in com- 
paring the structure of the infant with that of the 
adult, which enable the one to execute many 
operations of which the other is incapable, exist 
to a certain extent in every part of the body ; 
but are perhaps more remarkable in the spine 
than in any other part : and the spine there- 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAX. 13 

fore may be selected as a fit term of com- 
parison. 

In considering the office of the adult spine, 
with a view to the present subject, we find that 
great strength, combined with great flexibility, 
is particularly requisite. With reference to 
strength, the pyramidal form of this natural 
column is obviously conducive to the purpose 
intended ; and the arrangement of the solid mat- 
ter, of which it is composed, is such as to contri- 
bute to the same effect ; for that solid matter, in- 
stead of being collected into one compact mass, 
is diffused in such a manner as to resemble the 
structure of sponge ; and it is well known, with 
reference to the strength of artificial columns, 
that, the same quantity of matter being given 
for each, and their height being the same, those 
columns which are hollow are stronger than those 
which are solid. Again, the whole column is 
made up of numerous parts, called vertebrae, 
which are so firmly bound together as to lessen 
the chance of being broken in the act of bend- 
ing ; and these vertebrae being applied to each 
other, throughout, by broad horizontal surfaces, 
are thus best calculated to support the perpen- 
dicular pressure of the superincumbent parts. 
The effect of general strength is further accom- 
plished by the mutual locking in of the project- 
ing portions, or processes, of the several verte - 
bra? ; and the same effect is accomplished to an 



14 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 



additional extent among those vertebrae which 
belong to the thorax or chest, by the mode of ar- 
ticulation between them and the ribs ; each rib 
being united, not entirely to a single vertebra, 
but partially to two contiguous vertebrae, near 
their line of junction. 

The flexibility of the spine is secured to the 
utmost requisite extent, by the great number of 
articulations or joints which it possesses, amount- 
ing to more than twenty ; as well as by the elas- 
ticity of the substance constituting those joints : 
and the projecting parts or processes of the se- 
veral vertebrae, which serve for the insertion of 
the muscles and tendons which are to move the 
whole, are differently disposed in the neck, the 
back, and the loins ; so as to be accommodated to 
the degree and kind of motion required in each : 
thus the vertebrae of the neck admit of a lateral 
motion to a greater extent than those of the 
back ; and the vertebrae of the back admit of 
flexion and extension to a greater degree than 
those of the neck ; while the vertebrae of the 
loins, being intended for support rather than 
flexibility, have their processes so distributed, 
as to contribute principally to the former of 
those effects. 

Thus far we have considered the conditions of 
the adult spine, and have seen that they are cal- 
culated most admirably both for flexibility and 
for strength. Let us now examine the same co- 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 15 

lumn in the age of early infancy ; and here we 
shall see, that, although at that period the parts, 
in which the conditions of strength and flexibility 
are so remarkably developed in the adult state, 
are not yet formed, or not completed ; those 
parts which are essential to the security of the 
life of the individual are nearly in as perfect a 
state as at the age of manhood : so that in the 
midst of the most decided marks of weakness 
and imperfection in the rest of the column, there 
is an extraordinary instance of strength and per- 
fect growth, in precisely that part of it which 
could not have been left in an incomplete state, 
without manifest, immediate, and constant dan- 
ger to the individual. In other words, the bodies 
and processes of the several vertebrae on which 
the strength and flexibility of the spine depend, 
are in early infancy still in a soft or cartilaginous 
state ; while the annular portions, which with 
their intervening ligaments constitute the spinal 
canal, are completely ossified ; so as to give as 
great a degree of security to the spinal marrow 
as at the age of manhood. 

Nor need we spend much time in ascertaining 
the final cause of this remarkable difference. Is 
it not indeed obvious on a moment's reflection, 
that the very helplessness and imperfect state of 
the physical powers in infancy, so ill understood 
and appreciated, though so beautifully described 
by Lucretius, contribute to the fuller develope- 



16 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 



ment of the moral character, not only of the in- 
dividual, but of his parents also, and of all his 
immediate connexions. The mutual affection, 
for instance, that takes place and is cemented 
between the infant and its mother, during the 
lengthened period in which the latter nurses her 
offspring ; the stimulus, which is given to the 
exertions of the other parent in supplying the 
increasing wants of those who depend on him 
for support ; and the general feeling and expres- 
sion of good-will and attachment, which bind 
together the numerous individuals of the same 
family ; all coincide to increase the sum of hu- 
man happiness and virtue. Whereas, were the 
infant born with all its powers complete, and 
capable of exerting those powers as soon as 
born, independently of the assistance of parent, 
or sister, or brother ; what would then remain 
of those endearing relations, but the empty 
name? 

How incorrect then is the conclusion of the 
poet in that otherwise most beautiful passage of 
his poem ! " The new-born babe, which, like the 
" shipwrecked mariner, lies prostrate on the 
" ground, naked and destitute of every assist- 
" ance required for the support of life, pierces 
" the surrounding air with its incessant cries ; 
" as if foreseeing the long train of miseries which 
6 6 it must hereafter encounter. And yet the ten- 
" der foal and lamb not only begin to crop the 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 



17 



" grass, but play about the mother almost as 
" soon as born. The nurse's soothing lullaby is 
" not wanted by them, nor the excitement of the 
" rattle or of any other toy : nor do they require 
" a change of dress accommodated to the chang- 
" ing temperature of the surrounding atmo- 
" sphere ; nor arms for their defence, nor walled 
" cities for their protection ; kind nature sup- 
" plying to them in bountiful profusion what- 
" ever is necessary to satisfy their wants a ." As 
if it might not have been reasonably and safely 
concluded, that that same power, (call it "nature, 1 ' 
or by any other name,) which provided so amply 
for the early wants of the lower species of ani- 
mals, had some good and special reason for 
leaving the human infant in a temporary state 
of helpless weakness. 

a Turn porro Puer, ut saevis projectus ab undis 

Navita, nudus humi jacet, infans, indigus omni 

Vitali auxilio, cum primum in luminis oras 

Nixibus ex alvo matris natura profudit ; 

Vagituque locum lugubri complete ut aequum 'st, 

Cui tantum in vita restet transire malorum. 

At varise crescunt Pecudes, Armenta, Feraeque ; 

Nec crepitacula eis opu' sunt, nec cuiquam adhibenda 'st 

Almec nutricis blanda atquc infracta loquela : 

Nec varias quaerunt Vesteis pro tempore Cceli. 

Denique non Armis opus est, non Mcenibus altis, 

Qucis sua tutentur, quando omnibus omnia large 

Tellus ipsa parit, naturaque deedala rerum. 

Lib. V. 223—23.5. 

e 



18 PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 



SECT. III. 

Physical Superiority of 'Man , on what Principle to be 

estimated. 

From this helplessness in his early years, and 
from the occasional inferiority of some of his 
physical organs to the corresponding organs of 
brutes, it has sometimes been absurdly asked 
what claim man has, from his physical structure 
or powers, to be placed first in the scale of ani- 
mal beings. His strength, what is it to that of 
the elephant or of the horse, or even of some 
species of reptiles or fish? his powers of sight 
and motion, what are they to those of the bird ? 
his sense of odours, to that of the dog? his touch, 
to that of the spider ? 

And yet, even if we entirely omit the con- 
sideration of the soul, that immaterial and im- 
mortal principle which is for a time united to 
his body, and view him only in his merely ani- 
mal character, man is still the most excellent of 
animals. How confined are the powers of other 
animals, considered generally, when compared 
with those of the human species. The comb of 
the bee indeed is in its construction wonderful ; 
and so is even the nest of the bird, or the habi- 
tation of the beaver : but these animals could 
never be taught to fabricate, or to use, the sim- 
plest of those machines or instruments, which 
man, even in a very partially civilized state, is 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 



19 



in the daily habit of making and employing : 
much less could they be taught to perform those 
complicated operations which result from their 
employment. 

But, it may perhaps be said, it is the mind, 
the intellectual power of man, which enables 
him to produce the effects in question. His 
mind indeed enables him to conceive the plan 
of those operations which he executes, but it 
does no more : and were his form deficient by 
one of the smallest of its present members, he 
would be rendered nearly helpless. Take from 
his hand but one of the fingers, and he could do 
nothing. It is the human hand which gives the 
power of execution to the human mind ; and it 
is the relative position of one of the fingers to 
the other four, which principally stamps the 
character of the hand ; for the thumb, by its 
capability of being brought into opposition with 
each of the other fingers, enables the hand to 
adapt itself to every shape ; and gives it that 
complete dominion which it possesses over the 
various forms of matter ' . 

Give all the intelligence therefore that you 
please to the horse, or to the elephant, yet with 
hoofs instead of hands it is physically impos- 
sible that they could construct the simplest in- 

b The term poltroon, if not of fancied etymology,, (pot lice 
truncatus,) verifies this statement ; the Roman soldier who had 
been deprived of his thumb, being deemed unfit for service. 

C 2 



20 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 



strument : nor could the organs even of the 
beaver, were that animal gifted with the highest 
intellectual powers, enable it to effect much more 
than it is capable of effecting at present. 

Man then is in every sense superior, in organ- 
ization as well as in intellectual powers, to all 
other animals ; and the degree of resemblance 
to him, as thus superior, is the main principle of 
classification adopted at the present day : and 
upon the whole it will be found that, in propor- 
tion as the powers and relations of animals are 
extensive, their structure resembles that of man. 
And, with respect to the degrees of this resem- 
blance, it may be observed that occasionally it 
is so strong, as to constitute all but identity of 
form, as in some of the quadrumanous animals, 
or apes ; while in others it is so faint, as to ren- 
der it questionable whether we are viewing an 
animate or inanimate body, as in several va- 
rieties of sponge. It is evident that the stability 
of the principle of classification, now described, 
depends on the permanency of the specific form 
of animals : and it will be found that nature has 
guarded this point in so sacred a manner, that 
after the lapse of thousands of years, the iden- 
tity of the species may be not only traced, but 
demonstrated, when nothing but the almost 
mouldering bones of the individual remain. 
But this subject will be considered more at 
large hereafter. 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 21 

As then, in estimating the moral or intellectual 
characters of particular men, we are not influ- 
enced by the consideration of insulated defects 
or excellences, but of the aggregate powers and 
qualities of the individual ; so, in comparing 
other animals with man, we ought not to affirm 
that they approach nearer to the standard of his 
perfection in proportion as they approach nearer 
to him in the structure of this or that part, or in 
the developement of particular powers or quali- 
ties ; but in proportion to that approximation 
which results from the balance of their structure 
and powers considered collectively. And on this 
principle, however nearly a few of them may re- 
semble him, they never can approach even the 
confines of an equality of nature ; whatever 
some speculative individuals have presumptu- 
ously supposed, or others in their simplicity 
have feared. Thus the resemblance to the hu- 
man form, as well internally as externally, is so 
remarkable in particular species of the ape, that 
while some philosophers (who however pro- 
ceeded without a knowledge or a due considera- 
tion of the true principles of the science con- 
cerned in their reasonings) have maintained 
that the ape and man are but varieties of the 
same species, or at most but different species of 
the same genus ; others, with an unnecessary 
anxiety, have laboured to vindicate the supposed 
insult thus offered to the dignity of human na- 

C 3 



22 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 



ture, by searching for some fixed and invariable 
difference in the structure of corresponding parts 
of each. 

But the question is puerile : for let us even 
suppose that the whole and every part of the 
structure of the ape were the same as that of 
man ; let every bone, and every muscle, and 
every fibre of the one correspond exactly with 
those of the other, not only in form and situa- 
tion, but also in size and proportion ; let the brain 
itself, that tangible instrument of the intellectual 
powers, be in structure the counterpart of the 
human ; yet, unless in its functions it resembled 
that of man, in other words, unless there were 
associated with it his intellectual peculiarities 
and the moral and religious sense, to what dread- 
ed conclusion would the closest resemblances 
lead? However near the approximation in their 
form, in their nature there must ever be an im- 
measurable distance between the two. The ape, 
compared with man, may indeed be among other 
animals " proximus huic :" still however it must 
be added, " longo sed proximus intervallo." 

SECT. IV. 

Early and gradual Developeme?ii of' the intellectual 
Faculties of Man . 

The helplessness of infancy then is but tem- 
porary : and a new scene soon opens to the con- 
templation of those who have sufficient opportu- 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 23 

nities of watching the developement of the human 
character : for, long as is the period, compared 
with the natural term of his own life, and longer 
still, compared with the corresponding period in 
the life of other animals, before man attains the 
full stature of his mind as well as of his body ; 
he at a very early season begins to manifest the 
superiority of his intellectual nature : he very 
soon begins to collect those materials for future 
use, which, though he will never hereafter be 
able to call to mind the moment or the circum- 
stances of their accession, he will use as effectu- 
ally as if he had originally acquired them by in- 
dustrious and direct attention. 

It does not fall within the intention of this 
treatise to attempt to ascertain the period when 
the first dawn of intelligence enlightens the 
countenance of the infant ; but, undoubtedly, 
among its earliest beams are those expressive 
smiles, which, although they are occasioned by 
the aspect of the mother, and are perhaps only 
connected with the expectation of an animal 
pleasure, namely the simple enjoyment of nou- 
rishment, yet are soon elicited by other indi- 
viduals also, who may understand how to win 
the attention, and amuse the faculties of the in- 
fant mind. 

It seems as if there were implanted in the 
young of all animals, of the higher orders, an 
instinctive propensity to those actions which arc 

C 4 



24 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 



naturally determined by their specific form when 
fully developed ; in order perhaps, among other 
purposes, to give occasion for that exercise of the 
limbs which is necessary to the health of the in- 
dividual. Hence the young ram couches his 
head, and tilts at his adversary, long before his 
horns have appeared ; and the young pheasant 
assails his antagonist with his projected legs, 
long before his spurs have begun to bud. And, 
following this analogy, may we not reasonably 
suppose that the sports of childhood have a na- 
tural tendency to prefigure the occupations of 
manhood ; and that by the extension of the same 
principle, independently of the impulse given by 
systematic education, or spontaneous imitation 
of their parents and others, there are instinctive 
differences in the amusements of children of dif- 
ferent temperaments, connected with their future 
destinations in life ? Thus while the boy is en- 
gaged in the mimicry of military parade or 
equestrian exercises, the girl devotes her time 
to more feminine occupations, and busies herself 
in acting the various duties which her nursery 
or household will hereafter require. The re- 
corded attempt to conceal Achilles in female 
attire, whether founded in fact, or, as is pro- 
bable, merely a fictitious anecdote, will serve 
to illustrate the present point; inasmuch as 
the use of the means, said to have been em- 
ployed by Ulysses to detect the hero, was evi- 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 25 

dently suggested by the principle just now ad- 
vanced. 

At this early period of life then, the judgment 
being not sufficiently matured for deeper obser- 
vation, the mind is satisfied with a view of the 
form and surface of objects presented to it ; with 
their anatomy, as it were, rather than with their 
physiology : but, in the mean time, it is thus 
acquainting itself undistractedly with those sen- 
sible qualities, with which it must necessarily be 
familiar before it can proceed to reason on causes 
and relations. And although it may appear at 
first view that a very disproportionately long 
period of our life is devoted to the mere exercise 
of the senses, it is yet highly probable that im- 
portant mental operations may be simultane- 
ously going on, though we are at the time un- 
conscious of them : for something analogous is 
observable throughout the whole course of our 
existence. How few there are, for instance, who, 
at any period of life, can call to mind a tenth 
part of what they have even recently heard or 
observed. And if this may be correctly affirmed 
of the adult age of life, and of those individuals 
whose original powers of mind are great, how 
much more strongly will it apply to those whose 
original powers of mind are not above the com- 
mon standard, or not yet matured by age. So 
that there can be very little doubt that the gene- 
ral principles and rules, which regulate the rea- 



26 PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 



soning and conduct of men on ordinary occa- 
sions, have been originally deduced by each 
individual from much of what has been long 
forgotten. 

It has been asserted by persons , whose in- 
tellectual powers were of the highest order, and 
whose industry was as remarkable as their abili- 
ties, that more than six or eight hours in each 
day could not be employed effectively by the 
generality of young men for the purpose of men- 
tal improvement. If this however be the case, 
and as a general position it probably is not very 
far from the truth, in vain does the ambitious 
student rob nature of that sleep which Provi- 
dence has made necessary for the renovation of 
the exhausted powers of our mind, as well as of 
our body ; and in vain also does he attempt to 
combine simultaneously the efforts of mental at- 
tention with bodily exercise, or to pursue his 
severer studies during the hour of meals : in 
both which cases, they, who adopt the custom, 
not only err in employing too continuous an ap- 
plication of the powers of the mind ; but in im- 
peding to a certain and often very inconvenient 
degree the process of natural respiration ; and, 
consequently, of other functions of the body, 
particularly of digestion. How main a point 

c Lord chief justice Hale ; (see Boswell's Life of Johnson, 
vol. ii. p. 511, 4to. London, 1791;) not to mention living au- 
thorities. 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 27 

ought it to be therefore with those who superin- 
tend the education of young persons, to avoid 
the application of too great a strain on the natu- 
ral spring of the intellectual powers. 

It is questionable whether at any period of life 
the correspondence between the external world 
and the sensitive and intellectual faculties of 
man, is so rapid, so vivid, and so effectual, as 
during that space which is intermediate to in- 
fancy and adolescence : and this fact, if it be so, 
may be explained by that principle of our na- 
ture, on which depends the love of novelty ; 
namely, that susceptibility of the nerves which 
makes them capable of being stimulated more 
vehemently by new, than by accustomed im- 
pressions : for certainly this principle is likely 
to be more exercised in proportion as we are 
nearer the period of infancy ; since every im- 
pression is then either absolutely new, or has not 
yet rendered the nerves dull by too frequent a 
repetition of its application. Another happy in- 
stance of the harmony that exists between the 
nature of man and the external world, is the 
readiness and confidence with which at this 
early period of life the impressions of sense are 
received. Where all is new, and therefore equally 
matter of wonder, there is yet no room for doubt. 
Nature teaches the mind to receive every thing 
without distrust, and to rely implicitly on those 
inlets to knowledge, the impressions of sense, 



28 POWERS OF THE HUMAN HAND, 



which are destined to be its only guides in the 
first years of life. Scepticism is not the tendency 
of childhood : and perhaps it is with reference 
to the analogy between the eye of faith and the 
eye of sense at this early period of life, that our 
Saviour pronounces a blessing upon those who 
receive the evidences of our religion with the 
simplicity of little children. 



CHAP. III. 

On the Powers of the human Hand, considered 
as a corporeal Organ. 

At length however, having passed the pre- 
paratory discipline both of natural and of pa- 
rental education, and having arrived at the ma- 
turity of his powers, man is fitted to exercise his 
empire over the external world. 

But before we consider the character of the 
materials provided for the supply of his various 
wants, or for the exercise of his intellectual fa- 
culties, let us examine more closely than hitherto 
the condition of those corporeal organs, by the 
agency of which he is enabled to produce the 
results intended. 

There can be no doubt that those organs are, 
if not exclusively, at least preeminently, the 
brain and the hand: of the latter of which, 
not only are the uses of the several parts and 



CONSIDERED AS A CORPOREAL ORGAN. 29 

of the whole made practically manifest every 
moment of our lives ; but its antecedent capa- 
bilities are so open to the investigating eye 
of reason, as to afford one of the readiest sub- 
jects of physical demonstration. And although, 
with respect to the brain, we not only have no 
satisfactory evidence, but cannot even form a 
probable conjecture, of the use or mode of ac- 
tion of any particular part ; yet we cannot doubt 
that it is the instrument by which our intel- 
lectual powers hold communion with external 
nature. I shall dedicate therefore this and the 
following chapter to the consideration of the 
general history of these organs. 

It would be an invasion of the province of 
others to give an anatomical description of the 
several constituent parts of the human hand : 
but in saying that its adaptation to the various 
purposes to which it is applicable is so open to 
the investigating eye of reason, as to afford one 
of the readiest subjects of physical demonstra- 
tion, a tacit reference was made to that remark- 
able part of the writings of Galen, in which he 
expatiates upon the capabilities of this wonder- 
ful instrument : and that that extraordinary 
writer could hardly have selected a better sub- 
ject, for the exercise of his powers in intellectual 
analysis, will be readily granted on a perusal of 
the following passages ; provided they correctly 
represent the spirit of the original. 



30 POWERS OF THE HUMAN HAND, 

In that portion of his works which bears this 
title, 44 On the Use of the various Parts of the 
Body," after having denned what is to be un- 
derstood by the term part, or member, as applied 
to an animal body, Galen proceeds in the fol- 
lowing manner d : " But all these parts of the 
" body were made for the use of the soul, that 
44 sentient and intelligent principle which ani- 
" mates the body, and of which the body is 
" merely the organ ; and on this account the 
44 component parts of animals differ according 
" to the nature of this principle : for some ani- 
44 mals are bold and fierce ; others are timid and 
44 gentle : some are gregarious, and cooperate for 
44 their mutual sustenance and defence ; others 
44 are solitary, and avoid the society of their fel- 
44 lows : but all have a form or body accommo- 
44 dated to their natural dispositions and habits. 
44 Thus the lion has powerful fangs and claws ; 
44 the hare has swiftness of foot, but in other 
44 points is defenceless. And the fitness of this 
44 arrangement is obvious : for those weapons 
44 with which the lion is furnished are as appro- 
44 priate to his nature, as they would be useless 
44 to the timid hare ; whose safety, depending 
44 entirely on flight, requires that swiftness of 
44 foot for which she is so remarkable. But to 
44 man, the only animal that partakes of divine 
44 intelligence, the Creator has given, in lieu of 

a Lib. I. cap. 2. 



CONSIDERED AS A CORPOREAL ORGAN. 31 

" every other natural weapon or organ of de- 
" fence, that instrument, the hand; an instru- 
" ment applicable to every art and occasion, as 
" well of peace as of war. Man therefore wants 
" not a hoof, or horn, or any other natural wea- 
" pon ; inasmuch as he is able with his hand to 
" grasp a much more effective weapon, the sword 
" or spear. Besides which, natural weapons can 
" be employed only in close conflict ; while some 
" of the weapons employed by man, as javelins 
" or arrows, are even more effectual at a distance. 
" And, again, though man may be inferior to 
k ' the lion in swiftness, yet by his dexterity and 
" skill he breaks in to his use a still swifter ani- 
tk mal, the horse ; mounted on whose back he 
" can escape from or pursue the lion, or attack 
" him at every advantage. He is enabled more- 
" over by means of this instrument to clothe 
" himself with armour of various kinds, or to en- 
" trench himself within camps or fenced cities. 
" Whereas were his hands encumbered with any 
" natural armour, he woidd be unable to employ 
" them for the fabrication of those instruments 
" and means, which give him such a decided 
" advantage over all the other animals of cre- 
" ation. 

" Nor have we yet enumerated the most im- 
" portant of those privileges which the hand im- 
" parts to man. With this he weaves the gar- 
" ment that protects him from the summer's 



32 POWERS OF THE HUMAN HAND, 

44 heat, or winter's cold ; with this he forms the 
44 various furniture of nets and snares, which give 
" him dominion over the inhabitants as well of 
44 the water as of the air and earth ; with his 
44 hand he constructs the lyre and lute, and the 
44 numerous instruments employed in the several 
44 arts of life ; with the hand he erects altars and 
44 shrines to the immortal gods ; and, lastly, by 
44 means of the same instrument he bequeaths to 
44 posterity, in writing, the intellectual treasures 
44 of his own divine imagination : and hence we, 
44 who are living at this day, are enabled to hold 
44 converse with Plato and Aristotle, and all the 
44 venerable sages of antiquity." 

In reasoning on the utility of the hand, as 
characteristic of the human species, Galen thus 
expresses himself e : 44 Man being naturally de- 
44 stitute of corporeal weapons, as also of any 
44 instinctive art, has received a compensation, 
44 first in the gift of that peculiar instrument the 
44 hand, secondly in the gift of reason ; by the 
44 employment of which two gifts he arms and 
44 protects his body in every mode, and adorns 
44 his mind with the knowledge of every art. 
44 For since, had he been furnished with any 
44 natural weapon, he would have possessed the 
44 use of this alone on all occasions ; or had he 
44 been gifted with any instinctive art, he would 
44 never have attained to the exercise of other 

e Lib. I. cap. 4. 



CONSIDERED AS A CORPOREAL ORGAN. 33 

44 arts ; hence he was created destitute of those 
44 insulated and individual means and arts, which 
44 characterize other animals ; inasmuch as it is 
" manifestly preferable to have the power of 
" making use of various means and various arts. 
44 Rightly, therefore, has Aristotle denned the 
44 hand to be the instrument antecedent to, or 
" productive of, all other instruments : and 
" rightly might we, in imitation of Aristotle, de- 
" fine reason, as opposed to instinct, to be the 
" art antecedent to, or productive of, all other 
44 arts. For as the hand, though itself no par- 
" ticular organ, is yet capable of being adapted 
" to all other organs, and is consequently ante- 
" cedent to them ; so reason, though itself no 
44 particular art, is yet capable of comprehend- 
44 ing and applying all ; and may therefore be 
44 considered as an art antecedent to all others. 
44 Thus man alone, of all animals, possessing in 
44 his soul this general and original capacity, is 
44 justly endued in his body with this general 
44 and original instrument." 

44 f Let us then scrutinize this member of our 
44 body ; and inquire, not simply whether it be 
44 in itself useful for all the purposes of life, and 
" adapted to an animal endued with the highest 
44 intelligence ; but whether its entire structure 
44 be not such, that it could not be improved by 
k any conceivable alteration. 

1 Lib. i. cap. 5. 
I) 



34 POWERS OF THE HUMAN HAND, 

44 In the first place, it possesses in an eminent 
« degree a leading quality of an organ of grasp ; 
44 since it readily applies itself to, and securely 
" holds, bodies of every form and size that are 
" capable of being moved by human strength. 
44 Nor need we inquire whether it be better for 
" this purpose that it should be divided into 
" several parts ; or, that it should be altogether 
44 undivided : for is it not apparent without fur- 
44 ther reasoning, that had it been undivided, it 
4 4 could have grasped only just such a portion 
44 of every object presented to it, as was equal 
44 to itself ; but that, being divided into many 
44 parts, it can both easily grasp bodies much 
44 larger than itself ; and can accurately search 
44 out, and lay hold of, the smallest particles of 
44 matter. For to the former it is capable of 
44 generally applying itself so, as to encompass 
44 them by the separation of the fingers ; while 
44 in laying hold of very minute objects, the en- 
44 tire hand is not employed, but only the tips 
44 of two of the fingers : because from the grasp 
44 of the whole hand minute objects would easily 
44 escape. 

44 Thus then the hand is framed in the man- 
44 ner most convenient for laying a firm hold on 
44 objects both greater and less than itself. And 
44 in order to enable it to apply itself to objects 
44 of various shapes, it is evidently most conve- 
44 nient that it should be divided into many 



CONSIDERED AS A CORPOREAL ORGAN. 35 

44 parts, as it is : and it seems to be better con- 
" stituted for this purpose than any similar in- 
" strument ; for it not only can apply itself to 
44 substances of a spherical form, so as to touch 
44 them with every part of itself ; but it also can 
44 securely hold substances of a plane or of a 
44 concave surface ; and, consequently, it can 
44 hold substances of any form. 

44 And, because many bodies are of too great 
44 a size to be held by one hand alone, nature 
44 has therefore made each hand an assistant to 
44 its fellow ; so that the two, when together lay- 
44 ing hold of bodies of unusual bulk, on opposite 
44 sides, are fully equivalent to a single hand of 
44 the very largest dimensions : and, on this ac- 
44 count, the hands are inclined towards, and in 
44 every point are made equal to, each other ; 
44 which is at least desirable, if not necessary, 
44 in instruments intended to have a combined 
44 action. 

44 Take then any one of those unwieldy bodies, 
44 which a man can only lay hold of by means of 
44 both his hands, as a millstone or a rafter; or 
44 take one of the smallest objects, as a millet- 
1 seed or a hair, or a minute thorn; or, lastly, 
44 reflect on thai vast multitude of objects of every 
44 possible size, intermediate to the greatest and 
44 the least of those above mentioned ; and you 
" will find the hands so exactly capable of grasp- 
44 ing each particular one, as if they had been 

d 2 



36 POWERS OF THE HUMAN HAND, 

" expressly made for grasping that alone. Thus 
44 the smallest things of all we take up with the 
4 4 tips of the fingers ; those which are a little larger 
44 we take up with the same fingers, but not with 
44 the tips of them ; substances still larger we 
44 take up with three fingers, and so on with 
44 four, or with all the five fingers, or even with 
44 the whole hand : all which we could not do, 
44 were not the hand divided, and divided pre- 
44 cisely as it is. For suppose the thumb were 
44 not placed as it is, in opposition to the other 
44 four fingers, but that all the five were ranged 
44 in the same line ; is it not evident that in this 
44 case their number would be useless? For in 
44 order to have a firm hold of any thing, it is 
44 necessary either to grasp it all round, or at 
44 least to grasp it in two opposite points; neither 
44 of which would have been possible, if all the 
44 five fingers had been placed in the same plane: 
44 but the end is now fully attainable, simply in 
44 consequence of the position of the thumb ; 
44 which is so placed, and has exactly such a 
44 degree of motion, as, by a slight inclination, to 
44 be easily made to cooperate with any one of 
44 the four fingers. And no one can doubt that 
44 nature purposely gave to the hands a form 
44 adapted to that mode of action, which they 
44 are observed to have£; while in the feet, where 
44 extent of surface is wanted for support, all the 

s Lib. ii. cap. 9. 



CONSIDERED AS A CORPOREAL ORGAN. 37 

toes are arranged in the same plane. h But, to 
return to a point which we were just now con- 
sidering, it is not merely necessary in laying 
hold of minute objects to employ the extremi- 
ties of the fingers opposed to each other, but 
that those extremities should be exactly of 
the character they are, namely soft, and round, 
and furnished with nails : for if the tips of the 
fingers were of bone, and not of flesh, we could 
not then lay hold of such minute bodies as 
thorns or hairs ; or if they were of a softer and 
moister substance than flesh, neither then could 
such small bodies have been secured. For, in 
order that a body may be firmly held, it is ne- 
cessary that it be in some degree infolded in 
the substance holding it ; which condition 
could not have been fulfilled by a hard or 
bony material ; and on the other hand, a mate- 
rial too soft would easily yield to substances of 
which it attempted to lay hold, and would con- 
tinually let them escape : whereas the extre- 
mities of the fingers are just of that interme- 
diate degree of consistence, which is calculated 
for their intended use. 

" 1 But, since tangible substances vary much 
in their degree of hardness, nature has adapted 
the structure of the extremities of the fingers 
to that circumstance : for they are not formed 
either entirely of flesh, or of the substance 

h Lib. i. cap. 6. ' Lib. i. cap. 7- 

D 3 



38 POWERS OF THE HUMAN HAND, 

" called nail ; but of a most convenient combi- 
" nation of the two : thus those parts which are 
44 capable of being mutually brought in apposi- 
" tion, and which are employed in feeling for 
" minute objects, are fleshy ; while the nails are 
" placed externally, as a support to the former. 
44 For the fingers are capable of holding soft sub- 
" stances, simply by the fleshy or soft part of 
44 their extremity ; but they could not hold hard 
" substances without the assistance of nails ; 
44 deprived of the support of which the flesh 
" would be forced out of its position. And on 
4 the other hand, we could not lay hold of hard 
4 substances by means of the nails alone ; for 
4 these being themselves hard, would easily slip 
4 from the contact of hard bodies. 

44 Thus then the soft flesh at the tips of the 
4 fingers compensating for the unyielding nature 
4 of the nails, and the nails giving support to the 
4 yielding softness of the flesh, the fingers are 
4 hereby rendered capable of holding substances 
4 that are both small and hard. And this will 
4 be more evident, if you consider the effect of 
4 an unusual length of the nails ; for where the 
4 nails are immoderately long, and consequently 
4 come in contact with each other, they cannot 
4 lay hold of any minute object, as a small thorn 
4 or a hair : while, on the other hand, if, from 
4 being unusually short, they do not reach to 
4 the extremities of the fingers, minute bodies 



CONSIDERED AS A CORPOREAL ORGAN. 39 

44 are incapable of being held through defect of 
" the requisite support: but if they reach exactly 
44 to the extremities of the fingers, they then, 
44 and then only, fulfil the intention for which 
44 they were made. The nails, however, are ap- 
44 plicable to many other purposes besides those 
44 which have been mentioned ; as in polishing 
44 and scraping, and in tearing and peeling off 
44 the skin of vegetables, or animals : and in 
44 short, in almost every art where nicety of ex- 
44 edition is required, the nails are called into 
44 action." 

In alluding to the sceptics of his time, the lan- 
guage of Galen is as follows. 44 k Whoever ad- 
44 mires not the skill and contrivance of nature, 
44 must either be deficient in intellect, or must 
44 have some private motive, which withholds 
44 him from expressing his admiration. He must 
44 be deficient in intellect, if he do not perceive 
" that the human hand possesses all those qua- 
44 lifications which it is desirable it should pos- 
44 sess ; or if he think that it might have had a 
44 form and construction preferable to that which 
44 it has : or he must be prejudiced, by having 
44 imbibed some wretched opinions, consistently 
44 with which he could not allow that contrivance 
44 is observable in the works of nature 1 ." 

k Lib. iii. cap. 10. 

* Galon adds: " Such persons we are bound to pity, as being 
u originally infatuated with respect to so main a point ; while 

D 4 



40 



POWERS OF THE HUMAN HAND, 



Galen then thus sums up this part of the ar- 
gument. " The contrivances of nature are so 
44 various, and so consummately skilful, that the 
44 wisest of mankind, in endeavouring to search 
44 them out, have not yet been able to discover 
44 them all m ." And nearly in the same words, 
expressive of the same sentiment, does Solomon 
say — 44 Then I beheld all the work of God, that 
44 a man cannot find out the work that is done 
44 under the sun : because though a man labour 
44 to seek it out, yet he shall not find it ; yea far- 
44 ther ; though a wise man think to know it, yet 
44 shall he not be able to find it n ." 

I maybe permitted, perhaps, to subjoin a pas- 
sage from another part of the same work of 
Galen, though not confined to the same subject; 
in which, after having noticed many evidences 
of design in the construction of the human body, 
particularly the adaptation, in the number and 

" at the same time it behoves us to proceed in the instruction of 
" those happier individuals, who are not only possessed of a 
" sound intellect, but of a love of truth." 

On another occasion, in reprobating such cavillers, he says : 
(lib. iii. cap. 10.) " But if I waste more time on such profligates, 
" virtuous men might justly accuse me of polluting this sacred 
" argument, which I have composed as a sincere hymn to the 
" praise and honour of the Creator ; being persuaded that true 
" piety to him consists, not in the sacrifice of whole hecatombs of 
" oxen, nor in the offer of a thousand varieties of incense ; but 
" in believing within ourselves, and in declaring to others, how 
" great he is in wisdom, power, and goodness." 

m Lib. x. cap. 10. n Eccles. viii. 17- 



CONSIDERED AS A CORPOREAL ORGAN. 41 

size of the parts, to the effect to be produced, 
he breaks out into this remarkable apostrophe : 
" How can a man of any intelligence refer all 
" this to chance, as its cause : or, if he deny this 
" to be the effect of foresight and skill, I would 
" ask, what is there that foresight and skill do 
" effect? For surely where chance or fortune 
" act, we see not this correspondence and regu- 
" larity of parts. I am not very solicitous about 
" terms ; but if you choose to call that chance 
" which has so nicely constructed and so justly 
" distributed all the parts of an animal body, v 
" so ; only remember and allow, that in so d 
" you do not fairly exercise the privile^ 
" framing new terms : for in this way you may 
" call the meridian splendour of the sun by the 
" name of night ; and the sun itself, darkness. 
" What ! was it chance that made the skin give 
" way so as to produce a mouth ? or, if this hap- 
" pened by chance, did chance also place teeth 
" and a tongue within that mouth ? For, if so, 
" why should there not be teeth and a tongue in 
" the nostrils, or in the ear?" Or, to carry on a 
similar appeal, " did chance dispose the teeth 
" themselves in their present order ; which if it 
" were any other than it is, what would be the 
" consequence ? If, for instance, the incisors and 
" canine teeth had occupied the back part of the 
" mouth, and the molar or grinding teeth had 

Lib. xi. cap. 7- and 8. 



42 POWERS OF THE HUMAN HAND, 

" occupied the front, what use could we have 
4 4 made of either? Shall we then admire the skill 
44 of him who disposes a chorus of thirty -two 
44 men in just order ; and can we deny the skill 
" of the Creator, in disposing the same number 
44 of teeth in an order so convenient, so neces- 
44 sary even for our existence f 

He then extends the argument to the teeth of 
other animals, as corresponding with the nature 
of their food ; and also to the form of their feet, 
as having a relation to the character of their 
teeth. 

44 Never," says Cuvier, one of the most expe- 
rienced physiologists of the present age, 44 never 
44 do you see in nature the cloven hoof of the ox 
44 joined with the pointed fang of the lion ; nor 
44 the sharp talons of the eagle accompanying 
44 the flattened beak of the swan." 

In corresponding expressions Galen exclaims, 
44 p How does it happen that the teeth and talons 
44 of the leopard and lion should be similar ; as 
44 also the teeth and hoofs of the sheep and goat ; 
44 that in animals which are by nature cou- 
44 rageous, there should be found sharp and 
44 strong weapons, which are never found in 
44 those animals that are by nature timid : or, 
44 lastly, that in no animal do we meet with a 
44 combination of powerful talons with inofFen- 

p Lib. xi. cap. 8. ed. Kiihn. vol. iii. p. 875. lin. 3 — 17. and 
p. 892. lin 12—17- 



CONSIDERED AS A CORPOREAL ORGAN. 43 



" sive teeth ? How should this happen, but that 
" they are all the work of a Creator, who ever 
" kept in mind the use and mutual relation of 
" different organs, and the final purpose of all 
" his works?" 



CHAP. IV. 

On the Brain, considered as the Organ of the 
Intellectual Faculties. 

IT can no more be doubted that many of the 
phenomena of nature, and the important practi- 
cal and philosophical conclusions deduced from 
them, would have been hitherto concealed from 
human knowledge, had man failed to exercise 
those intellectual faculties with which the Crea- 
tor has endued him ; than that political commu- 
nities would have failed to exist, and social life 
to be adorned with the arts of civilization, had 
all mankind determined to pursue the mode of 
life adopted by savage tribes : nor can it be 
doubted that the Creator, in imparting to man 
intellectual faculties superior to those of brutes, 
intended that he should exercise them, not solely 
with a view to the higher and future destination 
of his nature, but also with a view to the pur- 
poses of this present life. 

Since however the senses of hearing, sight, 
and touch, which are the great inlets of know- 
ledge, are possessed by many of the inferior 



44 



ON THE BRAIN. 



classes of animals in common with ourselves, by 
some indeed in a more exquisite degree ; since 
also those animals are capable of remembering 
past, and conjecturing future events, although 
incapable of the more abstract functions of the 
understanding ; it becomes highly interesting to 
inquire whether there is any thing in the physi- 
cal structure of man which renders him more 
capable of being acted on by external agents, 
with respect to the developement of his intel- 
lectual faculties, than brutes are : in other words, 
whether there is a material instrument in animal 
organization, the general composition of which is 
in obvious correspondence with the degree of 
intellect evinced by different species of animals, 
including man as one of those species. 

Now if any one in the least degree conversant 
with the laws of optics and of sound, were to 
doubt the adaptation of the structure of the eye 
and of the ear to those laws respectively, he 
would fairly be ranked among the individuals 
of that class of speculatists whose minds are too 
weak to apprehend any truth. And though there 
is not so obvious a relation between the struc- 
ture of the brain and the exercise of the mental 
faculties, as in the case of the eye and light, and 
of the ear and sound ; yet the indications of a 
natural connexion between the two are both 
clear and numerous. And hence not only have 
philosophical inquirers in all ages acknowledged 



ON THE BRAIN. 



45 



such a connexion ; but the most common ob- 
servers have ever felt an intuitive conviction of 
its existence, and have considered the brain as 
the t instrument of thought and reason 9 : the 
truth of which assertion is evident from vari- 
ous metaphorical terms expressive both of intel- 
lectual defect and of intellectual excellence. 

It may be presumed that, without the aid af- 
forded by the study of anatomy or natural his- 
tory, the most cursory observer might discover 
that the indications of intelligence manifested 
by the various classes of animals generally cor- 
respond in degree with their approximation in 
physical structure to man ; and that, if we con- 
fine our view to the four highest classes, namely 
fish, reptiles, birds, and quadrupeds, and con- 
sider them with reference to their respective 
degree of docility ; fish and reptiles, which are 
the lowest in the scale, will readily be allowed 
to be inferior to birds, which are a degree higher 
in the scale ; and these again will with equal 
readiness be allowed to be inferior to quadru- 
peds,,, which are the highest. 

And it would be acknowledged upon a more 
accurate investigation, that, although there are 

S and his pure brain, 

Which some suppose the soul's frail dwelling house, 
Doth, by the idle comments which it makes, 
Foretell the ending of mortality. 

King John, Act. , r t, Scene 7- 



46 



ON THE BRAIN. 



at first sight some seeming exceptions to the re- 
gularity of gradation, the apparent anomalies 
vanish when put to the test of a philosophical 
examination. Should it be said, for instance, that 
the bee or the ant shews greater indications of 
intelligence than many species much higher in 
the scale of animal creation, it may be answered 
that those indications are manifested in actions 
which are referable to instinct, rather than intel- 
ligence ; actions namely, which being essential 
to the existence of the individuals, and the pre- 
servation of the species, are apparently deter- 
mined by some internal impulse which animals 
unconsciously obey. Nor does it militate against 
such a notion of instinct, that when accidental 
impediments prevent the regular evolution of 
the comb, taking that as an instance, the bee 
accommodates the arrangement of its fabric to 
the impediment which is placed in its way: for 
such a modification of instinct is as clearly ne- 
cessary in the case of an occasional impedi- 
ment, as instinct itself is necessary for the ge- 
neral purpose. 

In speaking of instinct I purposely avoid a 
formal definition of the term : for any attempt 
to define with accuracy a principle, of the real 
nature of which we are ignorant, usually leaves 
us in a state of greater darkness than we were 
before; of which the following extraordinary at- 
tempt, with reference to the very principle now 



ON THE BRAIN. 



47 



under consideration, is a sufficient illustration. 
It is quoted from an author of the name of Wag- 
ner, in a work on the Brain of Man and other 
Animals, written by Wenzel and his brother ; 
and is as follows : " The instincts of animals are 
" nothing more than inert or passive attractions 
" derived from the power of sensation : and 
" the instinctive operations of animals nothing 
" more than crystallizations produced through 
" the agency of that power r ." 

Of the general position, then, that the brain 
is the instrument of intelligence, and that the 
degree of intelligence characteristic of different 
classes of animals is proportional to the ap- 
proximation of their structure to that of man, it 
may for the present be presumed that no one 
doubts. 

CHAP. V. 

The Nervous System of Animals in general. 
SECT. I. 

The Nervous System of the inferior Animals. 
AS the peculiarities in the structure of the 
human brain cannot be understood without a 
reference not only to the brain but to the nerv- 

r " Instinctus animalium nihil aliud sunt, quam attractioncs 
w mortinc a sensibilitate profectae; et eorum artificia nihil aliud 
" quam crystallizationes per sensibilitatem products." Wenzel, 
Depenitiori Structura Cerebri. Tubingtt, fol. 1812. p. 24.5. 1. 10. 



48 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



ous system at large of other animals ; it will be 
necessary to take such a survey of that system 
as may be sufficient for the present purpose. 

In the lowest species of animals, which appear 
to be devoid of any specific organs of digestion, 
motion, or sensation ; whose economy indeed 
only enables them to contribute, in a mode as 
yet unknown, to the nutrition and preservation 
of the individual, or to the continuation of the 
species, no distinct nervous system has yet been 
discovered, or at least satisfactorily demon- 
strated : it is presumed rather than known that 
in such animals there exists a variable number 
of small insulated masses of nervous matter 
called ganglions, which are connected with each 
other, and with different parts of the body, by 
means of slender filaments that radiate from 
these masses in various directions. 

In ascending the scale of animal existence 
we meet with species, in which, though devoid 
of organs of sense and motion, there exist dis- 
tinct organs of digestion : and in such species 
the upper part of the passage leading from the 
mouth to the stomach is usually surrounded by 
a kind of collar, from whence distinct nerves 
are distributed to the other parts of the body. 

In ascending still higher the scale of animal 
existence we find, together with a greater sym- 
metry of structure in the whole individual, ad- 
ditional component parts of the nervous system, 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 49 

and a greater degree of regularity in the distri- 
bution of these superadded parts. Thus in those 
classes of animals which include the leech, the 
centipede, and the bee, whose bodies are natu- 
rally divisible into distinct segments, we find a 
series of ganglions placed opposite the respective 
segments, and sending out nerves which are ap- 
propriated to the muscles of voluntary motion 
attached to these segments : and the several 
ganglions are reciprocally united by intervening 
portions of a nervous cord, which is continued 
from one extremity of the body to the other ; so 
as to present the appearance of a thread in 
which knots have been tied at stated intervals. 
And in those species of these classes which have 
eyes, as is the case with insects, there are ad- 
ditional ganglions near the head ; from which 
arise the nerves of vision, and, probably, of 
touch. 

If, in ascending still higher the scale of ani- 
mal existence, we examine the nervous system 
of fish, reptiles, birds, and quadrupeds, we find 
that those parts which are subservient to the 
nutrition of the individual, and to the continu- 
ation of the species, are supplied with ganglions 
and nerves corresponding in their general cha- 
racter and mode of distribution with the nervous 
system of the lower classes : and that the ar- 
rangement of the nerves of voluntary motion 
merely differs from that of the intermediate 

E 



50 NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 

classes, in being more elaborate ; the individual 
nerves all communicating with a continuous cord 
which extends from one extremity of the body 
to the other ; but which, instead of floating 
loosely in the general cavity of the body, as in 
insects, &c. is contained in a canal essentially 
consisting of a series of parts called vertebrce, 
which taken together form what is called the 
spine or backbone. From the structure of this 
spine these classes are called vertebrated: and 
it is deserving of notice that these classes alone 
have a cranium, or skull. 

The nervous cord above described is known 
more familiarly under the name of the spinal 
marrow, a term which is derived from its re- 
semblance, in some of its physical characters, 
to the oil contained in the interior of the bones 
of man and various other animals. 

That portion of the spinal cord which is con- 
tiguous to the head is continued into the cavity 
of the skull ; and is there apparently lost in a 
more or less regular mass of nervous matter 
called the brain : which is small, and simple in 
its structure, in fish; larger, and more com- 
plicated, progressively, in reptiles, birds, and 
quadrupeds ; largest, and most complicated, in 
man. From the lower surface of the brain 
arise several pairs of nerves which are princi- 
pally distributed upon the organs of the distinct 
senses, and the muscles of the face : and it is 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 51 

worthy of observation, that while the muscles of 
mere animal motion, as of the trunk and extre- 
mities, are derived from the spinal marrow ; the 
muscles of the face, which may be called pre- 
eminently the muscles of moral and intellectual 
expression, are derived from the brain itself. 

In ascending then from fish, the lowest of the 
four classes of vertebral animals, to quadrupeds 
which constitute the highest class, the general 
mass of the brain upon the whole increases in 
proportional size ; and at the same time it also 
more and more resembles that of man both in 
its general form, and in the character and pro- 
portions of its several parts. But the human 
brain, when fully developed, contains parts which 
do not exist in the brain of those animal species 
which approach nearest to man in the structure 
of this part s . 

It cannot be uninteresting in an inquiry like 
the present to add, with respect to those occa- 
sional deviations from the common form, called 
monsters and lusus naturae, that nature never 
elevates the brain of an individual of a lower to 

3 It may be convenient here to state that the human brain is 
naturally divisible into two parts, called the cerebrum and cere- 
bellum ; of which the former is eight or nine times larger than 
the latter. The cerebrum, which occupies nearly the whole of 
the cavity of the skull, consists of two parts, called hemispheres : 
and it should be particularly borne in mind that it is with refer- 
ence to the great size of its hemispheres that the human brain 
exceeds that of all other animals. 

E 2 



52 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



that of a higher class; though the brain of an 
individual of a higher is frequently not developed 
beyond the degree of a lower : and this law of 
the developement of the brain is, with reference 
at least to the distinction of classes, corre- 
spondent with that of the general form. Thus 
a lusus naturae or monster in the class of quad- 
rupeds, for instance, or of birds, may have two 
heads, or eight legs; but the supernumerary 
parts will be always those of its own class, in- 
deed of its own species : and therefore it is ab- 
surd to suppose that if there be no mixture of 
species in the same class, there should ever be a 
confusion of two distinct kingdoms of nature. 

Horace, than whom no one better understood 
the principles of imaginative or artificial poetry, 
knew that abrupt combinations of heterogeneous 
subjects would certainly offend a correct taste, 
because unnatural : for taste, it may be affirmed, 
is, in one of its essential attributes, a feeling in 
harmony with natural combinations ; whether 
the individual combination be that of sounds, or 
colours, or forms, or of intellectual images, or 
moral sentiments : and nature, which may be 
preeminently called the reyyv) TroirjriKy], though she 
may occasionally surprise the mind by unusual 
combinations of organs natural to the species, 
never so couples together heterogeneous organs, 
as that the limbs of animals of one species 
should be united with those of another species ; 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



53 



in short, as Horace himself expresses the con- 
ception, 

Non ut 

Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni 1 . 

SECT. II. 
The Nervous System of Man. 

The nervous system of man, without any re- 
ference to that of other animals, naturally re- 
solves itself into three sufficiently distinct divi- 
sions : of which one is appropriated to those 
parts, which characterize him as simply an or- 
ganized being ; another, to his powers of volun- 
tary motion ; the third, or the brain, to the or- 
gans of the several senses, and, probably, to 
the manifestation of the intellectual powers and 
moral affections. 

Of the two first of the foregoing divisions it is 
not necessary to speak more at large ; because 
no doubt exists in the minds of physiologists as 
to the nature of their offices. But this is not 
the case with respect to the brain ; which there- 
fore demands a greater share of our attention. 

Of all the parts of the nervous system taken 
collectively, the brain has been most generally 
considered as the organ of the mind : and it has 
long been a favourite speculation to endeavour 
to ascertain what part of this organ is subser- 

t The subject of lusus naturae, or monsters, will be resumed 
towards the conclusion of this treatise. 

e3 



54 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



vient to the existence and exercise of those intel- 
lectual powers and moral feelings, which to a 
greater or less extent are possessed by many- 
other animals as well as man. It is presumed at 
least that of the existence of intellectual powers 
or moral feelings in brutes no one can doubt, who 
has been at all accustomed to observe the cha- 
racters and habits of animals u ; so that when in 
common language it is asserted that man differs 
from other animals in possessing reason, while 
they are irrational, the term reason must be 
taken in its most extended sense, as implying 
the aggregate faculties of man, both moral and 
intellectual. 

I will not here insist on the evidence of the in- 
tellectual powers of brutes, as deducible from the 
effects of what we call instinct ; because in all 
those actions which are the result of instinct, 
animals appear to be guided by a natural and 
irresistible impulse from within, which leads 
them to seek or to avoid that which will be 
either useful or injurious to them ; and enables 
them to perform the most complicated acts, as 
the building of a nest or the construction of a 
comb, though they may never even have seen 
the same acts performed by other individuals of 

u Aristotle, in his History of Animals,, distinctly affirms such an 
existence— eVecrrt yap iv rois nXelcrTois; Kai rtov a\\a>v £cooiv ix vr } T <* v 
ncpl rrju ^v^v rponcov, anep eiri tg>v dvOpconcov e;^t (pavepcorepas ras 
diacpopds. p. 212. lin. 7 -10 ed. Bekker. 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



55 



their species. I would rather insist on that 
evidence of their intellectual powers, which is 
derived from their conduct, when, in conse- 
quence of having been removed from their na- 
tural sphere of action, they are impelled by ex- 
ternal and accidental circumstances. Thus the 
wariness of old animals in avoiding the pursuit 
or arts of man, and the sagacity with which a 
practised hound will cut off an angle in order to 
shorten his distance, may be considered as proofs 
of a considerable degree of intellectual rather 
than of instinctive prudence in brutes. 

The playfulness of the young of most quadru- 
peds, often indeed observable in the adult ani- 
mal also, may be regarded as no obscure proof 
of the exercise of the intellectual faculty which 
we call imagination ; for that playfulness almost 
always consists in the representation of mutual 
hostility, though the real disposition at the same 
time is any thing but hostile. The dog for in- 
stance, under such circumstances, snarls and 
bites, but with evident intention not to hurt. 

Of the existence of moral feelings in brutes, 
there is still more decided proof than of the ex- 
istence of intellect. Thus the expression of joy 
in a dog at sight of his master is not to be mis- 
taken, and the expression of fear in a horse at 
the sound of the whip is equally unequivocal in 
its character. Again, animals become attached 
not only to individuals of their own species, bill 

e 4 



56 NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 

to individuals of even a different order or class : 
and they evidently feel regret upon separation 
from these their companions. 

On the supposition that the brain is the organ 
of the intellectual powers, physiologists have 
been led to compare the proportions of the 
whole and of its several regions in man and 
brutes ; in order to arrive at a knowledge of 
such facts as might serve for a basis for ascer- 
taining which are the parts essential to its action 
as such an organ. It has been supposed by 
some that the intellectual faculties may be in 
proportion to the absolute size of the brain ; such 
an opinion being grounded on the fact, that the 
human brain is larger than that of the horse or 
ox. But on the other hand, the brain of the 
whale or of the elephant taken in its whole 
mass is larger than that of man ; though the in- 
telligence even of the elephant bears no propor- 
tion to that of the human mind. Again, the 
brain of the monkey or of the dog is smaller 
than that of the ox or the ass ; yet with respect 
to their intellectual faculties the former approx- 
imate much more closely to man than the latter. 
Neither do the dispositions or qualities of ani- 
mals appear to be connected with the absolute 
size of their brain : ioi: animals most different 
and even opposite in disposition may be ranged 
in the same class with reference to the size of 
this organ ; the tiger and the deer, for instance, 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



57 



among quadrupeds; and among birds, the hawk 
and the pigeon. 

It would appear probable from some instances, 
that the proportional size of the brain with re- 
ference to the size of the body would give a more 
uniform result. Thus a crocodile twelve feet in 
length, a serpent eighteen feet in length, and a 
turtle that weighs from three hundred to five 
hundred pounds, have not any of them a quan- 
tity of substance in their brain equal to half an 
ounce ; and the slight degree of intellectual power 
manifested by these animals corresponds with 
such a proportion. But on examination it ap- 
pears that the proportional size of the brain is 
not a more certain criterion than the absolute 
size. The brain of the elephant for instance is 
smaller in proportion to its body than that of any 
other quadruped : and yet what quadruped ex- 
ceeds the elephant in sagacity ? and, in compar- 
ing many of the inferior animals with man in 
this respect, it is found that not only do different 
genera of the same order differ very widely from 
each other in the proportion of their brain to 
their body, as the bat and the fox ; but that the 
proportion is sometimes inversely as the degree 
of intellect of the animal : thus, as far as we are 
capable of judging, the intellect of the fox is in- 
finitely greater than that of the bat, and yet the 
brain of the former, proportionally to its body, is 
only one half the size of the latter. Occasionally 



58 NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 

the disproportion is still greater indifferent species 
of the same genus, and even in different varieties 
of the same species : thus in some dogs the brain 
compared with the body is as one to fifty, while 
in others it is as one to three hundred. 

Again, it appears that the brain of some of the 
genera of the lowest orders in a class is propor- 
tionally larger than that of some of the genera of 
the highest orders. Thus, in the mammalia, the 
brain of the dolphin, which animal is in the 
lowest order of that class, is in proportion to its 
body four times as large as the brain of the fox, 
which is an animal of one of the highest orders. 
And the brain of the mouse and of the mole are 
nearly, if not quite as large, in proportion to their 
body, as that of man. And the same circum- 
stance occurs even in the second class, or birds ; 
for the brain of the sparrow is in proportion to 
the body as large as, nay even larger, than that 
of man. 

Lastly, for it is unnecessary, and would be 
tedious, to enter further into the detail of this 
part of the subject, there does not appear to be 
any connexion between the degree of intellectual 
faculties and the mutual proportions of the several 
constituent parts of the brain ; or between the 
degree of the intellectual faculties and the mu- 
tual proportions of the brain and nerves. So 
that it appears, from a review of what has been 
advanced, that no criterion of the degree of in- 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



59 



tellect is found in the absolute size of the brain ; 
nor in its relative size, as compared with that of 
the body of the individual ; nor in the relative 
size of its constituent parts/or of the whole of it, 
to the nerves. 

SECT. III. 

Indications of natural Talent and Disposition deducible 
from the Structure of the Brain. 

If the entire history of the brain were a pri- 
mary object in this treatise, it would be right 
here to investigate in detail the observations and 
theory of Dr. Gall respecting this organ : but on 
the present occasion it will be unnecessary to 
refer to that theory further than may be re- 
quired by the course of the argument. 

The simple enunciation of Dr. Gall's theory 
is this, that " the brain in general is the instru- 
" ment by which the intellectual faculties, and 
" the moral sentiments and propensities, are 
" manifested ; particular parts of it being the 
" organs of those several faculties, sentiments, 
" and propensities : and that according to the 
" state of these organs will be the faculties, sen- 
" timents, and propensities of each individual." 

To those who have objected to this theory, 
that it leads towards the doctrines of fatalism, 
and the material nature of the soul, it has been 
answered ; first, that as, according to the theory, 
no individual, who is endued with intellect, is 



60 NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



deficient in the organs of those moral sentiments, 
which, if cultivated, will be sufficient to coun- 
teract whatever bad propensities he may have, 
the theory cannot consistently be accused of in- 
culcating the doctrine of fatalism : and secondly, 
that without inquiring what the soul is, or in 
what manner it is united to the body in this life, 
which Dr. Gall considers as questions not only 
beyond the comprehension of human reason, but 
totally unconnected with his inquiries, the theory 
merely investigates the material conditions of 
that part of the body by which the soul is af- 
firmed to manifest itself to our observation. 

It has been already stated that, in exposing 
to view the lower surface of the brain, several 
pairs of nerves are observable which may be 
traced to the organs of sense and some other 
parts : and it is admitted by many anatomists 
of acknowledged accuracy, that, of all these 
pairs, not one, excepting the olfactory and op- 
tic, is derived from the great mass of the brain 
called its hemispheres : but Dr. Gall shews it to 
be highly probable in fact, as it evidently is in 
reasoning, that neither the olfactory nor the 
optic nerves are derived from the hemispheres : 
whence it would appear that, with the doubtful 
exception of the nerves of smell and sight, not 
a single nerve of the whole body is derived from 
the great mass of the brain : for the organs of 
the other senses, and all the muscles of volun- 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



61 



tary motion, together with the whole assemblage 
of the organs of digestion, and the heart, and 
the lungs, are evidently supplied from other 
sources. 

Either then the great mass of the brain is 
allotted in a most anomalous disproportion to 
the two senses of smell and sight, which in many 
animals are comparatively weak ; or, if it do not 
supply the nerves of sight and smell, there is no 
part of the body which it does apparently sup- 
ply with nerves : and then the conclusion presses 
upon us with peculiar force, that the brain is 
exclusively the instrument of the immaterial part 
of our present existence. 

It appears from Dr. Gall's own account, that 
he was originally led to this peculiar train of 
thought by observing the difference of talents 
and character in his own brothers, and in other 
children with whom he happened to associate ; 
some of whom, though under perfectly similar 
circumstances of education with the rest, were 
much quicker in apprehending what was taught 
them : and further, by observing in different in- 
dividuals of the same species of animals, as dogs, 
that some were fierce, some mild : again, that in 
birds of the same species some continued to sing 
their own notes only, while others would listen 
to, and imitate, artificial music : and with re- 
ference to the last mentioned instance particu- 
larly, he argued that the difference could not 



62 NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 

arise from the greater or less degree of perfec- 
tion in the organ of hearing, for it is the same in 
both ; but must be looked for in the brain, to 
which the organ of hearing conveys sounds ; and 
in which, and not in the ear itself, they are per- 
ceived. There are moreover numerous instances 
which shew that the sense of hearing is by no 
means in proportion to the degree of perfection 
in the construction of the ear. Thus, the dog 
hears with indifference the sweetest melody : and 
yet the construction of his ear approximates 
more to that of man than the construction of the 
ear of even the most musical birds. And on 
this point Dr. Gall asks, if the organ of hearing 
determine the power of singing, why should the 
female bird be mute, seeing that in this part of 
its bodily construction it differs not from the 
male ? It is equally observable that in men the 
talent for music is not in proportion to any su- 
periority in the organ of hearing ; in the con- 
struction of which indeed there is little if any 
apparent difference between any two indivi- 
duals. 

Partial insanity and partial idiotcy are among 
the circumstances which Dr. Gall considers as 
favouring his theory. The frequency of the for- 
mer must be a fact well known to all : the latter 
is not uncommon ; and even persons of consider- 
able intelligence occasionally exhibit very ob- 
scure traces of this or that particular faculty. 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



63 



Other arguments in favour of his system he 
draws from the temporary effects produced by 
cerebral inflammation on the state of the mental 
powers : in the case, for instance, of idiots, who 
during the inflammatory action have manifested 
a considerable degree of understanding ; but after 
the cessation of that action have relapsed into 
their former state of fatuity. 

It would seem, in the instances here adduced 
by Dr. Gall, that the mental faculties which had 
been previously in a state of fatuity, are ren- 
dered for the time rational, in consequence of a 
degree of excitement which in individuals not 
labouring under fatuity would have probably 
produced delirium : and, as a rational state of 
the faculties may be considered, to use a mathe- 
matical expression, as a mean proportional to 
fatuity and delirium, it might be expected that 
the same cause which would raise a rational 
state of the faculties to delirium, would raise an 
idiotic only to a natural state : as, in a similar 
manner, wine is observed to modify the charac- 
ters of individuals of different temperaments, by 
elevating them for the moment : 

" It keeps the unhappy from sinking, 

44 And makes e'en the valiant more brave.'" 

It would occupy too much time to enter into 
the detail of this interesting part of Dr. Gall's 
system : nor was more originally intended than 
to introduce the subject to the consideration of 



64 NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 

those, who happen not to have reflected on it 
before, in such a manner as to enable them to 
form some judgment of the merits of a theory, 
the character of which has been injured to the 
full as much by its injudicious friends as by its 
professed enemies. Of this theory it may per- 
haps be affirmed with truth, that, considered as 
an abstract philosophical speculation, it is highly 
ingenious, and founded upon unobjectionable 
principles : and that while the general conclu- 
sion is inevitable with respect to the collective 
functions of the brain, there is nothing unrea- 
sonable in supposing that specific parts serve 
specific purposes. The rock, on which Dr. Gall 
and his implicit advocates have split, is the at- 
tempt to fix the local boundaries of the several 
faculties of the soul. Had he satisfied himself 
with developing the structure of the brain in the 
various classes of animals ; and had he been con- 
tent to shew that, in tracing its structure from 
those animals which manifest the least indica- 
tions of intelligence to those which exhibit still 
stronger and stronger, it proportionally advances 
in its resemblance to the structure of the human ; 
and lastly, had he only drawn from these pre- 
mises the general probable conclusion, that spe- 
cific parts had specific uses with respect to the 
manifestations of the immaterial principle of 
animal existence ; (and assuredly brutes are en- 
dued with such a principle, though, as being 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 65 

devoid of the moral sense, they are not fitted for 
a future state, and consequently perish when 
their bodies die;) had Dr. Gall been content 
to have stopped at this point, without ventur- 
ing to define the local habitations of the sup- 
posed specific organs, he would have acquired 
the unalloyed fame of having developed a beau- 
tiful train of inductive reasoning in one of the 
most interesting provinces of speculative philo- 
sophy : whereas, in the extent to which he has 
carried his principles, his doctrine has become 
ridiculous as a system ; while in its individual 
applications it is not only useless, but of a posi- 
tively mischievous tendency : for, without the aid 
of this system, every man of common sense has 
sufficient grounds on which to judge of the cha- 
racters of those with whom he associates ; and 
it is evidently more safe to judge of others by 
their words and actions, and the general tenor 
of their conduct, than to run the risk of con- 
demning an individual from the indication of 
some organ, the activity of which, for a moment 
allowing its existence, may have been subdued 
by the operation of moral or religious motives. 

But there is an occasional absurdity in the 
application of the theory, which, though obvi- 
ous, does not seem to have been noticed. Let 
us suppose, for instance, the case of a murderer; 
and that a disciple of Dr. Gall were to maintain 
that, as the crime of murder proceeds from the 

v 



66 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



operation of the organ of destructiveness, that 
organ would be found highly developed in such 
an individual ; and yet, upon actual inspection, 
this were not found to be the case. Here, 
although the disciple of Dr. Gall might be dis- 
appointed in finding no such developement, a 
plain reasoner would not be so disappointed : 
for is it not obvious that avarice, or shame, or 
jealousy, might in a moment operate so power- 
fully as to lead an individual to the crime of 
murder, whose nature and habits were as far 
as possible removed from the propensity to that 
crime ; and who, consequently, according to 
Dr. Gall's own principles, would be devoid of 
any undue developement of the organ of mur- 
der ? 

With respect to ourselves indeed, the study of 
the system may be attended sometimes with the 
happiest consequences : for if, from the contem- 
plation of it, we can be strengthened in our con- 
viction of the fact, which both reason and reve- 
lation teach us, that each individual is liable to 
particular temptations depending on his specific 
temperament, we shall thus have one additional 
memento of our frailty, one additional incentive 
to watch over, and combat, " the sin which doth 
" so easily beset us." 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



67 



SECT. IV. 

The general Doctrine of Physiognomy , as connected with 
the Form of the Body. 
As the indiscreet zeal, not only of Dr. Gall, 
but of physiognomists in general, has thrown 
unmerited discredit on that department of spe- 
culative philosophy which they have cultivated, 
it may be worth while to examine the subject on 
other authority than that of professed physio- 
gnomists. 

There are many phenomena, then, connected 
with the moral and intellectual faculties of man, 
both in a healthy and diseased state, which, by 
shewing the reciprocal influence of the two dis- 
tinct parts of our nature, the soul and the body, 
render it probable that the energies of the for- 
mer, although it be itself immaterial, may be 
manifested by means of a material instrument. 
The existence of this reciprocal influence, which 
indeed we might expect from their intimate 
though mysterious union, cannot be denied. 
Thus grief or expectation destroys appetite ; 
and mental application to any favourite pursuit 
makes us insensible of the want of food : and, 
on the other hand, a disordered state of the di- 
gestive organs evidently impedes the free exer- 
cise of the mental powers ; or oppresses the soul 
with those dreadful, though really groundless 
apprehensions, which have been termed hy- 
pochondriacal from the situation of the organs, 

f 2 



68 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



the morbid state of which is supposed to give 
rise to those apprehensions. Again, intoxica- 
tion confuses the memory and judgment ; and 
the repeated abuse of wine permanently de- 
bilitates the mind, and often terminates in con- 
firmed insanity. The state of the air affects the 
mental energies and moral feelings of many in- 
dividuals, to a degree inconceivable to those who 
are not thus subject to its influence. And the 
impression of fear has been known suddenly to 
arrest the symptoms of endemic ague and epi- 
lepsy. 

The general idea that this connexion of the 
soul and body may be traced in the conforma- 
tion of the latter, it will be at once remembered, 
is by no means new : and the anecdote of the 
unfavourable judgment passed on the moral dis- 
position of Socrates, from the character of his 
countenance, will readily recur to the mind on 
this occasion. Aristotle has even entered into 
some details on the forms and shades of colour 
of the hair and features, and indeed of various 
other parts of the body, as indicative of particu- 
lar temperaments or constitutions of the mind x . 
And it is hardly a question, whether every indi- 

x For an exposition of Aristotle's views on this subject, con- 
sult a work of Galen, entitled IIEPJ TON TH2 tYXHS in 
which the question of the connexion between the faculties of the 
soul and the conformation of the body is discussed. Galen, op. 
Kuhn, vol. iv. p. 768—798. 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



69 



vidual is not accustomed in some degree to de- 
cide on character from the features, the colour 
of the hair, and other external indications, in- 
dependently of that expression of the counte- 
nance, which rather marks the actually existing 
state of the mind than the latent disposition 
of it > . But if it be in any degree probable that 
the connexion between the soul and body may 
be traced in the conformation of the features or 
other parts of the body, in a much greater must 
it be probable that that connexion may be traced 
in the structure of the brain. 

Nor does there appear, on the ground either 
of reason or of religion, any thing objectionable 
or absurd in the assumption, antecedently to ob- 
servation, that the intellectual and moral ten- 

y Shakspeare lias several references to indications of personal 
character, as depending on the form of the countenance,, &c. 
Cleopat. Bear'st thou her face in mind ? is't long, or round ? 
Messeng. Round, even to faultiness. 
Cleopat. For the most part too, 

They are foolish that are so. Her hair, what colour? 
Messeng. Brown, madam : and her forehead 
As low as she would wish it. 

Antony and Cleopatra, Act III. Scene 3. 

Caliban v . We shall lose our time, 

And all be turn'd to barnacles, or to apes 
With foreheads villanous low. 

Tempest, Act IV. near the end. 

Julia. Ay, but her forehead's low ; and mine's as high. 

Two Gentlemen of Verona, end of Act IV. 

F 3 



70 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



dencies of the soul may in a qualified sense be 
determined, or at least modified, by the peculiar 
structure of the body : that they are frequently 
coincident with certain peculiarities of corporeal 
structure is a matter of actual observation. 

Is it absurd to suppose that, man being a com- 
pound of soul and body, the body has been so 
constructed in each individual as to become a 
fit arena on which that struggle shall be mani- 
fested, which undoubtedly takes place between 
the conflicting passions of the soul ? For it will 
not be denied by those to whom this treatise is 
addressed, that the soul wants not the substance 
of a corporeal frame for the mere existence of its 
evil principles, but only for the external mani- 
festation of them. An authority at least which 
cannot be questioned by a believer in revelation, 
asserts that out of the heart, that is, evidently 
from the context, out of the soul, proceed murder, 
theft, adultery, and the like. 

Is it absurd to suppose that, the brain being 
a very complicated organ, made up of distinctly 
different parts, these parts are subservient to the 
exercise of different functions? or, since it is evi- 
dent that in every other individual organ of the 
body, where there is an identity of structure, 
there is also an identity of function in all the 
parts, may we not fairly presume that, were the 
integral parts different, the effects produced 
would be different; and, consequently, that as 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 71 

the integral parts of the brain differ from each 
other, the offices of those parts may be different? 
Or, again, will it be denied as a matter of fact 
that different faculties and propensities manifest 
themselves in different individuals ; and is it 
unreasonable, on the ground of analogy, our only 
ground in this case, to suppose that they mani- 
fest themselves through the agency of different 
instruments ? And since the visceral nerves are 
appropriated to the mere vital functions of nu- 
trition ; and the spinal nerves to general mus- 
cular motion and common sensation ; and the 
nerves of the special senses occupy but a very 
small portion of the brain ; to what assignable 
purpose can the great mass of that organ be ap- 
plied, if not to the operations of that intellectual 
and moral principle, which, after the abstrac- 
tion of the organs of nutrition, motion, and sensa- 
tion, is the only imaginable part of our present 
nature? 

Is the language of Scripture entirely allegori- 
cal throughout the sacred volume ? or do we be- 
lieve on just grounds that we are contaminated 
with an innate propensity to evil ; that there are 
two principles within us constantly struggling 
for the mastery ; and that, spite of our better 
part, and against the strongest feelings of con- 
science and determination of judgment, we still 
are for ever yielding to the worse ? 

Shall we deny that the tendencies to evil are 
f 4 



72 NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 

different in character in different individuals; 
and by that denial shall we attempt to falsify 
the testimony of experience as to the fact itself ; 
and the conclusions of antecedent reasoning as 
to its probability : for, if all men were avaricious 
for instance, or ambitious in the same points, 
where would be the field for the display of other 
qualities ; and how could the affairs of the world 
be conducted? 

But whatever may be the real state of the 
case — whether the brain act as a simple organ 
by the simultaneous operation of all its parts; 
or whether those parts act independently in the 
production of specific effects — no one can doubt 
that the organ itself is the mysterious instru- 
ment by means of which, principally, if not ex- 
clusively, a communication is maintained be- 
tween the external world and the soul. Nor can 
it be doubted, indeed it is a matter of fact which 
is constantly open to our observation, that the 
degree of approximation in the structure of the 
brain of other animals to that of man bears a 
very obvious relation to the degree of intelli- 
gence manifested by the various classes of ani- 
mals : so that, in just reasoning, it must on every 
consideration be admitted to be the instrument 
by which the various degrees of intelligence are 
manifested. 

It is a matter also of observation, that the 
powers of the mind are capable, like those of 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 73 

the body, of being strengthened by exercise and 
cultivation: and, further, that not only do the 
mental faculties gradually manifest themselves 
from the moment of birth onwards ; but that the 
physical developement of the brain advances 
proportionally up to a certain period. But on 
thi& point it will be desirable to make a few 
more particular remarks. 

SECT. V. 

The Developement of the Human Brai?i, compared with 
that of other Animals. 

The brain of all vertebral animals, including 
even man, is nearly identical in structure in the 
early period of the embryo state of those ani- 
mals. But at the period of birth there is a very 
remarkable difference between the degree of 
developement of the human brain, and of that 
of the inferior animals. In quadrupeds for in- 
stance, the brain, according to Wenzel, is fully 
developed at the moment of the birth of the in- 
dividual ; contains, that is, at that time, all the 
parts in as perfect a state as they are in the 
adult animal of the same species (Wenzel, 
p. 246): while, with respect to the human spe- 
cies, it is asserted by Wenzel, and his statement 
is confirmed by the observations of others, that 
although the brain makes continual and rapid 
advances to its ultimate magnitude and per- 
fect state, from the period of conception to 



74 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



the seventh year after birth, yet all the parts 
have not attained their full size till the age of 
seven years (p. 254). And this difference is 
exactly what might be antecedently expected, 
from the comparatively greater degree of intel- 
ligence manifested by the young of other ani- 
mals, of the higher orders at least, than by the 
human infant. 

But it is very worthy of observation, that 
those parts of the human brain, which are formed 
subsequently to birth, are entirely wanting in all 
other animals, including even quadrupeds, which 
Wenzel has examined (p. 246): and that dur- 
ing the evolution of the parts peculiar to the 
human brain, the peculiar faculties of the hu- 
man intellect are proportionally developed : and 
finally, that, till those parts are developed, those 
faculties are not clearly perceptible (Wenzel, 
p. 247). But at the age of seven years the hu- 
man being essentially possesses, although not 
yet matured by exercise and education, all those 
intellectual faculties which are thenceforward 
observable : and at that age the brain is perfect 
in all its parts. And, from the age of seven 
years to the age of eighty, the changes of the 
human brain with respect to size, either col- 
lectively or in its several parts, are so trifling as 
hardly to be worth notice (p. 247 — 266). 

In comparing either individual actions or the 
complicated operations of man, with those of other 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 75 

animals, it is observable, that the actions and 
operations of the adult human being as much 
excel in design and method the actions and 
operations of all other adult animals, as those 
of the infant are excelled in precision and 
adroitness by the young of all other animals 
(p. 247): and both these facts correspond with 
the relative constitution of the brain at the re- 
spective periods ; the brain of other animals be- 
ing perfect at birth, which is not the case with 
the infant ; while the brain of the adult human 
being manifests a higher degree of organization 
than that of any other animal, and is there- 
fore physically fitted for functions of a higher 
order. 

It appears then highly probable, both from 
the intuitive conviction of mankind at large, and 
from a comparative examination of the struc- 
ture and developement of the brain in man and 
other animals, that the intellectual superiority 
of man, physically considered, depends on the 
peculiarities of the human brain : and with re- 
spect to the rest of his body, it is certain that 
the hand is the instrument which gives him that 
decidedly physical superiority which he pos- 
sesses over all other animals. In all other re- 
spects there is no physiological difference, of 
any importance at least to the present argu- 
ment, between man and the higher orders of 
animals : and the peculiarities of his physical 



76 NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 

condition, with reference to the form and gene- 
ral powers of his body, rest therefore on those 
two organs, the hand and the brain. And 
as the adaptation of the external world to the 
physical condition of man must have a special 
reference to those peculiarities in his structure 
which distinguish him essentially from other 
animals, it has therefore been thought impor- 
tant to dedicate a considerable portion of this 
treatise to the investigation of the characters of 
the two organs above mentioned. 

SECT. VI. 

Cursory View of the Extent of Human Power over the 
Objects of the external World. 

Having examined, as far as is necessary for 
the purpose of this treatise, the animal charac- 
ter of man, both with respect to the points in 
which he partakes of the nature of other species, 
and those in which he is elevated above them ; 
let us proceed to consider the adaptation of the 
external world to the physical condition of that 
being to whom the Creator has given dominion 
over all his other works ; whom alone, of all the 
living tenants of the earth, he has endued with 
a mind capable of conceiving, and corporeal 
powers capable of executing those wonderful 
combinations, which make him lord of the world 
which he inhabits; which enable him to com- 
pel the properties of inert matter to bend to his 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



77 



behests; and to direct not only the energies of 
the inferior animals, but even those of his fel- 
low creatures, to the purposes which he may 
have in view. 

In contemplating, for instance, as in all the 
pride of its appointments it advances through 
the waves, the majestic movements of a man-of- 
war, let us trace its whole history, and thence 
admire the extent of human power over the ma- 
terial world. Look at the rude canoe of the New 
Zealander, or call to mind the nearly as rude 
coracle of our own forefathers, and compare 
those simple and puny products of an infant art 
with the complicated and gigantic triumph of 
naval architecture now before you; and no won- 
der if, observ ing the ease and precision of its 
movements, the unlettered savages of the islands 
of the Pacific conceived the stupendous ma- 
chine to be some form of animated matter; whose 
fierce nature and awful power were announced 
by the tremendous roar and destructive effects 
of its artillery. 

Or, passing from inert matter to living and 
intellectual agents, let us in imagination first 
view the tumultuary and predatory incursions 
of the aboriginal borderers of the Ohio, or even 
of the more civilized tribes of modern Arabia ; 
revenge or booty their sole objects, without any 
plan of civil government or national aggrandize- 
ment; and then let us contemplate the profound 



i 



78 NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



views and combinations of the Macedonian mo- 
narch — that military meteor, whose course, though 
occasionally eccentric, was yet constantly regu- 
lated by the preponderating attraction of his ori- 
ginal design; and whose plans, though marked 
by temporary and local devastation, yet secured 
the foundation of the durable and general pros- 
perity of future generations. The theme is too 
vast and too sublime for the present effort, even 
had it never been before attempted ; but the 
genius of the learned author of the " Commerce 
" and Navigation of the Ancients a " has admir- 
ably developed the great and profound views of 
Alexander, ignorantly described by Pope as the 
reveries of insane ambition ; and has significantly 
alluded to the successful accomplishment of his 
wonderful attempt, in that beautifully appropri- 
ate legend placed under the engraving of the 
head of his hero, 

" Aperiam terras gentibusV 

Or let us investigate the career of the equally 
extraordinary conqueror of the present century. 
View him overcoming every moral and physical 
difficulty in the pursuit of his gigantic and fear- 
ful project of universal empire ; uniting distant 
and hostile nations in confederacies against their 
own liberties ; changing their long established 

a The very reverend W. Vincent, D. D. late dean of West- 
minster. 

b Q. Curt. lib. ix. cap. 6. 



NERVOUS SYSTEM OF ANIMALS. 



79 



dynasties, in order to set over them kings of his 
own family. View him absorbed in his heart- 
less calculations on the advantages to be ob- 
tained, for his personal aggrandizement, by the 
endless sacrifice of human life ; breaking into 
the peaceful occupations of domestic scenes, and 
desolating the happiness of myriads of his sub- 
jects, not to ward off the dangers of hostile in- 
vasion, nor to lay the foundation of the future 
good of his country, but solely to gratify his own 
insatiable thirst of power ; and yet by the magic 
of his name rallying round his standard, even 
to the last, the remnants of his former reckless 
schemes of inordinate ambition. 

In meditating on the astonishing scene pre- 
sented to the imagination by the description of 
a career so strange, we might almost be in doubt 
whether these effects were produced by a mere 
human mind ; or marked the presence of a su- 
perhuman intelligence, permitted for a time to 
exercise a guilty world. But whatever he were, 
he is gone ; and his place will know him no 
more. One moral reflection in the meantime 
forces itself upon the mind ; partly applicable 
to himself, and partly to mankind at large. 

Inebriated with prosperity, and regardless of 
the Power which could alone uphold him, he fell 
from his towering height ; and was banished far 
from the theatre of his former ambition, and al- 
most, indeed, from the haunts of men. But, haply, 



80 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

the prolongation of his life in the silent retirement 
of that sequestered island was mercifully intended 
to lead him to a calm reflection on the real value 
of sublunary possessions : for how very visionary 
and like a dream must all his former life have 
frequently appeared to him, when standing on 
the brow of some precipitous rock, the natural 
boundary of his insulated prison, he mused on 
the interminable expanse of the Atlantic ; and 
compared his present desolation with his former 
glory. Or, if the terrors of Omnipotence failed 
even then to reach his obdurate heart, his ex- 
ample at least remains a merciful beacon to 
others ; who may learn from his doom, that there 
is a Power which can say, as easily to the tem- 
pestuous ocean of ambition, as to the natural 
deep, " Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: 
" and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." 



CHAP. VI. 
Adaptation of the Atmosphere to the Wants 
of Man. 

SECT. I. 

The general Constitution of the Atmosphere. 

IN the foregoing part of this treatise the phy- 
sical condition of man has been considered under 
the view of the general capabilities of his nature, 
rather than of his actual state : but it is evident 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 81 

on a moment's reflection that his actual state will 
be very different at different periods of time, or 
in different parts of the world at the same pe- 
riod : and this observation applies no less to 
communities than to individuals. How great 
the contrast, with reference to the case of indi- 
viduals, between the intellectual powers and at- 
tainments of a Newton and a native of New 
Holland ; and in the case of communities, how 
great the contrast between any of the kingdoms 
of modern Europe, and the rude tribes from 
whence they were originally derived. 

In proceeding then to illustrate the adapta- 
tion of the external world to the physical con- 
dition of the human species, we must view in- 
dividuals or communities under all possible cir- 
cumstances of existence, and make the illustra- 
tion of as general application as the nature of 
the subject evidently demands. 

And, in order to effect something like a sys- 
tematic arrangement of the immense mass of 
materials whence the following illustration is to 
be deduced, it is proposed to investigate sepa- 
rately the four kingdoms or divisions of nature, 
the general characters of which were given in 
the commencement of this treatise ; beginning 
with the atmospherical and ending with the ani- 
mal kingdom. 

If it were possible, with the bodily as with the 
mental eye, to behold the constitution of the at- 

G 



82 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

mosphere which surrounds our earth, we should 
view a compound probably the most complex in 
nature : for into this circumambient ocean of air, 
as it is called by Lucretius b , are carried up 
whatever exhalations arise not only from the 
earth itself, but from every organized form of 
matter whether living or in a state of decompo- 
sition that is found upon the earth's surface ; the 
dews of morning, the balms of evening, the fra- 
grance of every plant and flower ; the breath 
and characteristic odour of every animal; the 
vapour invisibly arising from the surface of the 
whole ocean and its tributary streams ; and, 
lastly, those circumscribed and baneful effluvia, 
however generated, which when confined to 
definite portions of the atmosphere produce 
those various forms of fever which infest par- 
ticular districts : or those more awful and mys- 
terious miasmata, which, arising in some dis- 
tant region, and advancing by a slow but cer- 
tain march, carry terror and death to the in- 
habitants of another hemisphere. 

Such is the complex character of the atmo- 
sphere ; and, indeed, from this assemblage of 
vapours contained in it, it has received its pecu- 
liar appellation ; being the receptacle, or maga- 
zine, as it were, of terrestrial exhalations c . 

b Semper enim quodcunque fluit de rebus ; id omne 

Aeris in magnum fertur mare. Lib. V. 277> 8. 

c "At/ao>i> a(f)alpa. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 83 

All these various exhalations however may be 
considered as foreign to the constitution of the 
air, being neither constantly nor necessarily pre- 
sent anywhere ; all, with the exception of that 
aqueous vapour which is continually rising from 
the surface of the earth, as well as of the ocean 
and every lake and river. But, in addition to 
this aqueous vapour, the air is also charged to 
a variable extent with light and heat and elec- 
tricity : of which the two first are so obviously 
adapted to the wants of man as to demand im- 
mediate attention. Electricity is probably of 
equal importance in its relation to man: but the 
true character of that relation has not yet been 
sufficiently developed to call for a distinct con- 
sideration on the present occasion. 

SECT. II. 

Light. 

The metaphorical expressions of all ages and 
nations, with respect to light, sufficiently evince 
the value in which that inestimable gift is held. 
In the sacred Scriptures indeed, not only are 
temporal blessings compared to light, and tem- 
poral evils to darkness ; but holy deeds are fre- 
quently described under the character of the 
former ; and unholy deeds under the charac- 
ter of the latter : and, with respect either to clas- 
sical or oriental literature, a thousand instances 
might easily be adduced illustrative of the same 
metaphorical use of the terms in quest ion. 

o 2 



84 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

When, after a dark and tempestuous night, the 
mariner first perceives the dawn of returning 
day ; although that dawn discover to his view 
the evil plight to which the storm has reduced 
his vessel, why does he still hail day's harbinger 
as his greatest relief, but because without the 
aid of light he could not possibly extricate him- 
self from the difficulties of his situation? Or, 
when the child, awakened from its sleep, finds 
itself alone in darkness, why is it overwhelmed 
with terror, and why does it call out for pro- 
tection, but from the influence of those undefined 
fears, which naturally occur to the mind under 
the privation of light ? 

There is something so congenial to our nature 
in light, something so repulsive in darkness, that, 
probably on this ground alone, the very aspect 
of inanimate things is instinctively either grate- 
ful or the reverse, in consequence of our being 
reminded by that aspect of the one or of the 
other : so that on this principle, perhaps, parti- 
cular colours throughout every province of nature 
are more or less acceptable in proportion as they 
approach nearest or recede farthest from the cha- 
racter of light, whether reflected immediately 
from the heavenly bodies, or from the azure of 
the sky, or from the thousand brilliant hues with 
which the setting or the rising sun illuminates 
its attendant clouds. 

In illustration of the principle just advanced, 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 85 

gold and silver among metals might be opposed 
to lead and iron : and, among flowers, the bril- 
liancy of the crocus, the lily, or the rose, to the 
lurid aspect of henbane or belladonna. And 
though something of a moral character may in 
these instances determine the preference ; yet 
there is nothing unreasonable in supposing, that, 
as the instincts of the inferior animals regulate 
their tastes and distastes to natural objects ; so 
there may also be in the case of human beings 
congruities, or the reverse, between the sense im- 
pressed and the object impressing it. In fact, 
with respect to that sense, the organ of which is 
the ear, it is known that infants shrink back from 
deep sounds, and express delight at acute sounds, 
long before any intellectual or moral feeling can 
sway them ; and, correspondent^ with this as- 
sertion, the lullaby of the nurse partakes, among 
all nations, of the same essential character. It is 
a fact equally deducible from observation, that 
particular flavours and odours are naturally ac- 
ceptable, or the reverse, to children. And again, 
with reference to the sense of touch, smooth sur- 
faces almost universally give a pleasing impres- 
sion ; which is not imparted by rugged surfaces. 
Why then may it not be the same with respect 
to the sense of sight, in the case either of colour 
or of form ? 

The abundant supply of light from its natural 
source the sun, and the ease with which it is pro- 

g 3 



86 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

ducible by artificial means during the absence of 
that luminary, render us habitually less sensible 
of its real value, than undoubtedly we should be, 
were we to experience a long continued privation 
of it. And as to the regularly periodical priva- 
tion of it which we experience in consequence 
of the alternation of night with day, this is so far 
from being an evil, that it is obviously beneficial ; 
inasmuch as, in consequence of this very absence, 
sleep is both directly and indirectly conciliated : 
without which gift of Heaven, all our faculties 
would soon be exhausted, and all our happiness 
consequently extinguished. 

The beneficial influence of sleep on our whole 
frame is too obvious in its effects to require any 
formal demonstration : but it will be interesting 
to consider its relation to the absence of light. 
It appears then that, by a fundamental law of 
our nature, a sense of uneasiness invariably fol- 
lows a long continued exercise of our powers, 
either corporeal or mental : and, unless this 
sense of uneasiness have been produced by too 
inordinate exercise, it is soon relieved by that 
state of the system which we call sleep ; during 
the continuance of which, provided it be sound 
and of a perfectly healthy character, all the vo- 
luntary muscles of the body become relaxed, and 
the nervous system remains comparatively in- 
active ; the whole body acquiring by this tem- 
porary cessation of its energies a renovated ac- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 87 

cumulation of those powers, which are necessary 
for the purposes of active and intellectual life. 

In order to dispose us to yield to the sensation 
of approaching sleep, the periodical succession 
of night to day has been ordained by nature. 
For, with the approach of darkness cease all the 
usual stimuli of that sense, which is accommodated 
to the impulse of light, and which calls our facul- 
ties into action more frequently than any other : 
nor is the intention of nature less evident, be- 
cause, either from avarice or the dissipation of 
luxury, some individuals protract the labours or 
the pleasures of the day beyond the natural pe- 
riod assigned for those purposes ; since these are 
unnatural exceptions to the observance of the 
general law. 

Although it would be difficult to prove directly 
that there is any necessary connexion between 
darkness and sleep, yet this connexion is ren- 
dered at least highly probable by the effect usu- 
ally produced on the approach of darkness upon 
animals in general, but more remarkably on 
birds ; for, with the exception of those whose 
habits are nocturnal, all birds betake themselves 
to sleep as soon as night approaches : and if 
darkness should anticipate night by many hours, 
as happens when any considerable eclipse of the 
sun takes place in the middle of the day, we still 
ii nd the birds of the field as well as our domes- 
ticated fowls give the same indications of com- 

g 4 



88 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

posing themselves to sleep, as at the regular pe- 
riod of sunset. If it should be said that this does 
not more serve to prove a connexion between 
darkness and sleep with reference to these ani- 
mals, than to prove the effect of a long continued 
association resulting from their habit of going to 
roost at sunset; it may be asked, why should 
darkness, unless from some inherent cause, lead 
them to compose themselves to sleep at the hour 
of noon, instead of the usual hour of evening; 
since, on the one hand, periodical states of the 
animal system do not usually recur before the 
termination of the habitual period ; and, on the 
other hand, the individuals cannot at so early an 
hour have experienced such a degree of exhaus- 
tion as would of itself invite to sleep ? 

In stating that the voluntary action of the 
muscles ceases during sound sleep, we ought not 
to omit the remarkable fact that those muscles 
which are not under the empire of the will con- 
tinue their action uninterruptedly through the 
deepest sleep. Of all the muscles of involun- 
tary motion, this observation holds most remark- 
ably with respect to the heart ; the continued 
action of which organ during sleep is a phe- 
nomenon worthy of the deepest attention of a 
philosophical mind. All other organs of the body 
have their periods either of absolute or compa- 
rative rest ; the senses are in a measure periodi- 
cally locked up by sleep during one quarter at 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 89 



least, if not one third of our whole existence : 
the limbs of the most athletic individual lose 
their power of motion after a few hours of unre- 
mitted exertion ; even the brain, which during 
the hours of sleep and the interruption of all the 
common functions of the body frequently repre- 
sents to the internal senses the most busy scenes 
of active life — even the brain may be exhausted 
by unusual fatigue, or other causes, and may 
thus involve the general system in the stupor of 
apparent death — but the heart, unless on such 
occasions as the momentary interruption of a 
>woon, never rests : so that, whether we look 
back to that period of our existence, when, in 
our yet imperfect state, there could scarcely be 
discovered the faint outline of those members, 
which in after life constitute man's strength 
and beauty, the presence of the heart may be 
recognised by the impulse of its vibratory mo- 
tion, though its form is yet undefined, or at least 
indistinguishable ; or whether, on the other hand, 
we look forward to the latest moments of pro- 
tracted disease, or expiring old age, the same 
organ is the last part of our frame which con- 
tinue^ to give immediate proof of vital motion. 

The privation of Light is rarely, if ever, total : 
for though the empire of time is divided in 
nearly equal proportion between day and night, 
there are comparatively few nights in which 
there is not diffused through the air a sufficient 



90 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

quantity of light for many of the purposes of 
life. Nor, with respect to those persons who 
either were born blind, or became blind in early 
infancy, is the absence of light felt with any 
degree of severity ; for, in such instances, al- 
though the individual may be made to under- 
stand that he wants some faculty which those 
around him possess, there cannot be however 
any consciousness of privation where there never 
had been actually any enjoyment ; or where 
there was no recollection of it, if it had for a 
time existed. And even in the case of indi- 
viduals who have been deprived of sight long 
subsequently to birth, although the recollection 
of the former enjoyment must more or less im- 
bitter their present state; yet so long as the 
offices of surrounding friends are the means of 
administering to their comfort, more especially 
if those offices are fulfilled with kindness, the 
mind soon becomes reconciled to the privation : 
for it is a fact, repeatedly observed, that blind 
persons under such circumstances are usually 
cheerful. Nor ought we to forget the compensa- 
tion which nature affords to those who are de- 
prived of sight, in the consequently quickened 
activity of some of the other senses. 

Let us however suppose for a moment that, all 
the faculties and recollections of man remaining 
unaltered, and the general processes of nature 
continuing, if possible, the same as they are 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 91 



now, the existence of light were withdrawn from 
this earth : what would then be the condition 
of mankind ? How could those occupations of 
life be pursued which are necessary for the sup- 
ply of our simplest wants ? Who in that case 
should yoke the ox to the plough, or sow the 
seed, or reap the harvest ! but indeed under 
such a supposition there would soon be neither 
seed for the ground, nor grain for food : for, if 
deprived of light, the character of vegetation is 
completely altered : and its results, as far as 
general utility is concerned, destroyed. Or sup- 
pose, further, that these necessary supplies of 
life were no longer required, on account of some 
consequent alteration in our physical constitu- 
tion ; or that they were procured for us by any 
unknown means : yet. in all the higher enjoy - 
ment< of our nature, how cheerless, how utterly 
miserable would be our situation. Under such 
circumstances, wisdom would not only be 

;t at one entrance quite shut out, 11 
but no other entrance could then be found for 
it ; for of the other senses, the only remaining 
inlets of knowledge with reference to an external 
world, there is not one, which, if unaided by 
sight, could be of any practical value. With 
respect indeed to our inward feelings, though we 
should, on the one hand, be spared, by the priva- 
tion of light, the worse than corporeal pain of 
the averted eve of those who oiuiht to meet us 



92 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

with gratitude and affection ; we should, on the 
other hand, lose the beams of filial or parental 
love ; of which even a momentary smile out- 
weighs an age of pain. 

As in mathematical reasoning the truth of a 
proposition is sometimes indirectly proved by 
shewing that every process of proof but the one 
proposed would lead to an absurd conclusion : 
so, though the supposition of a general and total 
privation of light is on all probable grounds of 
reasoning inadmissible, it may yet serve to shew 
us indirectly the value of the good we enjoy. 
But it is sufficient to have given a few instances 
of the necessary effects of such a privation : and 
it will be a more grateful task to enumerate the 
actual benefits which we derive from the agency 
of light. 

In the vegetable world, upon the products of 
which animal existence ultimately depends, light 
is the prime mover of every change that takes 
place, from the moment the germ emerges from 
the soil. Exclude the agency of light, and in a 
short time the most experienced botanist might 
possibly be at a loss to know the plant with 
which he is otherwise most familiar; so com- 
pletely obliterated are all its natural characters, 
whether of colour, form, taste, or odour. Thus 
the faded colour of the interior leaves of the let- 
tuce and other culinary vegetables is the result 
of such a degree of compression of the body of 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 93 

the plant as excludes the admission of light 
beyond the exterior leaves. And, again, if a 
branch of ivy or of any spreading plant happen 
to penetrate during the progress of its vegeta- 
tion into a dark cellar, or any similar subterra- 
neous situation, it is observable, that, with the 
total loss of colour, its growth advances with 
great rapidity, but its proportions alter to such 
a degree as often to mask its original form. 
And, lastly, which in a practical point of view 
is of the greatest importance, if a plant which 
has grown without the influence of light be 
chemically examined, its juices, it might almost 
be said its whole substance, would be found to 
consist of little else than mere water; and, what- 
ever odour it may have, is characteristic, not of 
its original nature, but of its unnatural mode of 
growth ; becoming, in short, very like that of a 
common fungus. The total result is, that all the 
native beauties and uses of a vegetable growing 
under these circumstances are lost : the eye is 
neither delighted by any variety or brightness 
of colour ; nor is the sense of smell gratified by 
any fragrance : the degeneracy of its fibre into 
a mere pulp renders it unfit for any mechanical 
purpose ; and the resinous and other principles 
on which its nutritive and medicinal virtues de- 
pend, cease to be developed. In some instances, 
however, the bleaching or etiolation of plants is 
useful in correcting the acrid taste which be- 



94 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

longs to them in their natural state ; as in the 
case of endive and of celery. 

The effect of light upon vegetation has been 
selected in the preceding paragraph as affording 
the most powerful instance of the adaptation of 
this natural agent to the physical condition of 
man. Its effects upon individuals of the mineral 
and animal kingdom are neither so easily to be 
traced, nor are nearly so important in their con- 
sequences, at least in a practical point of view ; 
and therefore it is not proposed to bring them 
forward in a more particular manner. 

The observation of those modifications which 
light undergoes when reflected from the surfaces 
of bodies has given rise to one of those impres- 
sive arts which are capable of contributing no 
less to the refinement of society at large, than 
to the gratification of the individuals who culti- 
vate or admire them. For who can look on the 
productions of such masters as Guido, Raphael, 
or Michael Angelo, without imbibing a portion 
of the spirit which animated those masters in 
the execution of their inimitable works ? or, if 
we quit the regions of imagination and of his- 
tory, and descend from the higher efforts of the 
art into the retirement of domestic life, who can 
successfully describe those emotions which are 
excited by the portrait of a beloved object, a 
child or parent now no more ; or by the re- 
presentation of that home and its surrounding 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 95 

scenery, in which the careless and happy hours 
of childhood were passed ? 

The intrinsic source of the pleasure which we 
experience from the contemplation of a paint- 
ing is probably to be sought for in that prin- 
ciple of our nature, of more extensive influence 
perhaps than is generally supposed, which de- 
rives a gratification from perceiving the resem- 
blance of actual or probable truth ; or even, and 
sometimes in a higher degree, from the deli- 
neation of fictitious characters and scenes: and 
hence the art of painting is easily made the ve- 
hicle of the ludicrous and the horrible, no less 
than of the sublime and the beautiful : and, hence 
also, the painter may incur a considerable de- 
gree of moral responsibility in the exercise of 
his art. But this view of the subject, though 
fertile in reflections of great moment, and prac- 
tically too much neglected, does not belong to 
the purpose of the present treatise. 

SECT. III. 
Heat. 

From the consideration of the subject of light, 
the mind passes by a natural transition to that 
of heat : for these agents, though not necessarily 
or always, are in reality very often associated 
together : and they are each of them charac- 
terised by the want of that property which al- 
most seems essential to matter, namely weight. 



96 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 



In their relation to the physical existence of 
man and animal life in general, there is this dif- 
ference between them — the presence of light is 
only indirectly necessary ; the presence of heat 
is directly necessary. Different degrees of heat 
indeed are requisite for different species of ani- 
mals : but if the heat to which any individual 
animal be exposed be much below that which is 
natural to the species, and be continued for a 
sufficient length of time, all the vital functions 
are eventually destroyed ; or, as in the case of 
the hibernation of particular species of animals, 
are at least partially suspended. 

The degree of heat adapted to the human 
frame is so nicely adjusted to the bodily feel- 
ings of man, that, if we take a range of fifty de- 
grees of Fahrenheit's thermometer as indicating 
the average extent of variation to which the body 
is exposed in this climate, it will be found that a 
difference of two or three degrees, above or be- 
low a given point, will generally be sufficient to 
create an uncomfortable sensation. The late 
Mr. Walker, whose experiments on the artificial 
production of cold are well known to the phi- 
losophical world, ascertained that the point of 
62° or 63° of Fahrenheit is that, which, upon an 
average of many individuals, is in this climate 
the most congenial, as far as sensation is con- 
cerned, to the human body. But it is a merciful 
provision of nature, considering the numerous 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 97 

vicissitudes of human life, that man is capable 
of resisting very great and even sudden altera- 
tions of temperature without any serious incon- 
venience. Thus an atmosphere so cold, as to 
depress the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermo- 
meter to the 52d degree below the freezing point 
of water, has been borne under the protection of 
very moderate clothing. And, on the other hand, 
an atmosphere of a temperature as high as the 
200dth degree of Fahrenheit, which is within a 
few degrees of the boiling point of water, was 
borne by the late Dr. Fordyce, during ten 
minutes d . And it is highly worthy of notice, as 
connected with the general intention of this 
Treatise, that, during the same time, a thermo- 
meter which had been fixed under his tongue 
indicated only the 98th degree of Fahrenheit e : 
so that the body remained very nearly of its na- 
tural temperature, during its exposure to an at- 
mosphere exceeding its own temperature by full 
100 degrees f . 

This uniformity of animal temperature, under 
such circumstances, is in a great measure owing 
to the process of evaporation, which takes place 
from the general surface of the body, and from 
the air-vessels of the lungs : for if animals are 
confined in a chamber, the atmosphere of which 

d Phil. Trans 177^. vol. lxv. p. 1 1 7. e ibid. p. 118. 

f For an account of similar experiments carried to a further 
extent, see p. 484, &c. of the same volume of the Phil. Trans. 

H 



98 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

is so moist that no evaporation can take place 
from the surface of their bodies, it has been 
found that their temperature is as capable of 
being steadily and uniformly raised, by in- 
creasing the heat of the room in which they are 
placed, as if they were inanimate matter. 

The application of heat to the various pur- 
poses of life has a very extensive range ; and 
with reference to the daily preparation of the 
more common forms of our food, whether animal 
or vegetable, distinguishes the habits of man 
from those of every other species. Without the 
power indeed of commanding the application of 
heat in its various degrees, many of the most 
important arts of civilized society would fail. 

Without that power, how could clay be hard- 
ened into the state of brick, of which material 
most of the habitations in many large cities are 
constructed ? Without the aid of the same agent, 
how could quicklime, the base of every common 
cement, be produced from limestone? without 
the application of the higher degrees of heat, 
metals could neither be reduced from their ores, 
nor the reduced metals be worked into conve- 
nient forms. Neither, without the same aid, 
could that most useful substance glass be pro- 
duced ; a material, which, in comparison hardly 
known to the ancients, has in modern times 
become almost indispensably necessary to per- 
sons of the poorest class, as a substance of daily 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 99 

use for various economical purposes. But if we 
consider the properties of this valuable com- 
pound, with reference to the aid derived from it 
in the investigations of science, there are few 
substances of higher importance to the philoso- 
pher. Among the most useful of those proper- 
ties are its impermeability to fluids, either in a 
liquid or aeriform state ; its ready permeability 
to light, together with its power of modifying the 
qualities of that fluid ; and its resistance to almost 
all those chemical agents, which are capable of 
destroying the texture of most other substances 
with which they remain long in contact. 

In considering the extensive utility of the 
thermometer and barometer, in their common 
and most convenient forms, it is evident that 
their practical value almost entirely depends on 
the transparency of glass, and on its imperme- 
ability to air : for if the glass, of which they are 
made, were opaque, the variations in the level 
of the quicksilver contained within them would 
be imperceptible to the eye ; and could not be 
indirectly ascertained, unless by very circuitous 
and difficult means : and, on the other hand, if 
the glass were permeable to air, the variation in 
the level of the quicksilver, in the case of the 
barometer at least, would necessarily be pre- 
vented. The same properties of transparency 
and impermeability to air very greatly enhance, 
if they do not solely constitute the value of glass, 

h 2 



100 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

in all those philosophical experiments which are 
carried on under what is called the exhausted 
receiver. 

But the most important result of the trans- 
parency of glass is the modification which light 
undergoes in its passage through lenticular 
masses of that material. When, for instance, in 
consequence of disease or advancing age, the 
eye no longer retains the power of discerning 
objects distinctly, how much of hourly comfort, 
as well as of intellectual enjoyment, would be 
lost, were we not able to supply the natural de- 
fect by the artificial aid of glasses of the requi- 
site form and density. And, again, how many 
important facts in the physiology of animals and 
vegetables, as also in the constitution of inani- 
mate bodies, would have remained for ever un- 
discovered, but for the aid of the microscope ; 
the magnifying powers of which depend on the 
transparency, and form, and the right adjust- 
ment of those pieces of glass through which the 
objects subjected to observation are viewed? 

And, lastly, how shall we estimate the value 
of those discoveries, to say nothing of the con- 
stantly accumulating mass of observations con- 
nected with them, which the world owes to that 
wonderful instrument the telescope ? By the aid 
of which not only has the knowledge of our own 
sidereal system been extended, in consequence 
of the discovery of new planets belonging to it ; 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 101 

but it seems to have been rendered highly pro- 
bable that those obscurely defined luminous 
masses, which sir William Herschel termed ne- 
bulce, observable within the limits of individual 
constellations, are really the accumulated light 
of innumerable stars seen through the medium 
of a space hitherto immeasurable : and that the 
milky way itself is an extended accumulation of 
similar nebulae ; the collected light of which, at 
some inconceivable point of distance, may ap- 
pear to the inhabitants of still more distant 
spheres, as a mere speck. Dare the mind at- 
tempt to penetrate beyond this general state- 
ment, and to speculate upon the characters of 
its detail ? What if there be a resemblance, or 
even an analogy, between the structure and in- 
habitants of this earth and of the other planets 
of our system ? What if every fixed star which 
we either see with the naked eye or by the aid 
of the telescope, or whose existence we can con- 
ceive on probable grounds by the mind's eye, be 
itself the centre of a system consisting, like our 
own, of numerous subordinate spheres, and every 
one of these inhabited by responsible agents, like 
ourselves ; to whose uses both inorganic elements 
and animals and vegetables, analogous if not 
similar to our own, may be subservient? What 
if the moral history and state of the inhabitants 
of those numberless spheres be like that of 
man? — But the view, which the investigation of 

h 3 



102 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

this question seems capable of unfolding, is too 
awful for the eye of reason ; and, however its 
discussion might magnify our conviction of the 
infinite power and goodness of the Creator, is 
not to be approached perhaps without culpable 
presumption. 

Let us therefore return to considerations more 
appropriate to the character of human know- 
ledge : and, having referred to the effects pro- 
duced by heat on various forms of matter, let us 
inquire what facilities nature has placed within 
our reach for the purpose of exciting and main- 
taining heat itself. The chemist in his labor- 
atory, surrounded by the numerous and various 
agents which he is constantly employing, can 
never have any difficulty in producing the vestal 
element. By concentration of the sun's rays he 
may inflame any combustible substance: by 
compression of common air in a small cylinder 
of glass, or metal, he may ignite a piece of fun- 
gus, or inflame a piece of phosphorus, attached 
to the extremity of the piston which is employed 
to compress the air. He may instantaneously 
produce flame by pouring concentrated nitric 
acid on oil of turpentine, or on certain saline 
compoun ds ; by the simple trituration of phos- 
phorus, or other chemical agents ; by directing 
a small stream of inflammable air on minute 
particles of platina loosely aggregated in a state 
somewhat resembling sponge; or, not to accu- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 103 



mulate too many instances, he may delight him- 
self for the thousandth time by igniting a fine 
wire of steel, in passing the electric current 
along it by means of the Voltaic apparatus s. 

There are few individuals however who have 
commonly such magic instruments at hand : and, 
even if they had, it is probable that they would 
want both the leisure and inclination to preserve 
them in a state fitted to produce at any moment the 
intended effect ; for, though each successive year 

S It will not perhaps be deemed impertinent,, to relate an in- 
stance of the sagacity of the late Dr. Wollaston, in connexion 
with the present subject. It happened to the author of this 
Treatise, at a comparatively early period of his life, to deliver a 
letter of introduction to Dr. Wollaston at a moment when that 
philosopher was engaged in conducting an electric current, by 
means of the Voltaic apparatus, through three portions of fine 
steel wire, differing from each other in diameter. With that vi- 
vacity of manner, which in him resulted rather from the simple 
consciousness of the acquisition of truth, than from the ignoble 
triumph of individual superiority, he asked which of those wires 
would first become of a red heat ; and being answered, at a 
hazard rather than from any reasonable ground of conjecture, 
that a red heat would perhaps first take place in the thickest of 
the three — " I expect it will," he said, " and that the finest wire 
" will never reach a red heat ; for I conclude that, from its ex- 
" treme fineness, the heat excited in it will be dissipated by ra- 
" diation so rapidly, as to prevent the accumulation of a quan- 

titv sufficient for its ignition." It need hardly be added that 
the conjecture was verified. 

As an instance of the minute scale on which Dr. Wollaston 
was in the habit of carrying on his philosophical investigations, 
it may be mentioned that the preceding experiment was con- 
ducted in a single cell of a single and moderately sized Voltaic 
trough. 

H 4 



104 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

has of late given birth to some new form of ap- 
paratus calculated to produce instantaneous light, 
we find ourselves constantly recurring to the flint 
and steel, which our forefathers of many genera- 
tions have used ; and which will doubtless be 
the staple apparatus of our latest posterity. 

The more important part of the present in- 
quiry remains to be considered, the means 
namely of maintaining heat, when once ex- 
cited, to a sufficient extent and degree of in- 
tensity for the various purposes of social and 
civilized life. To this important purpose, among 
others, the products of the vegetable world, both 
in a fossil and recent state, are destined ; and 
in examining the origin and general history 
of some of these products, particularly with re- 
ference to common coal, we shall meet with an 
interesting example of those provisions of nature 
which Dr. Paley has denominated prospective 
contrivances. 

In the early periods of civilization, and while 
the population of a country bears a small pro- 
portion to the extent of soil occupied, the in- 
digenous forests easily supply an ample quan- 
tity of fuel : or, in the absence of those larger 
species of the vegetable kingdom which may be 
described under the term of timber, the hum- 
blest productions of the morass, though not the 
most desirable, are however a sufficient sub- 
stitute. Thus the sphagnum palustre and other 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 105 

mosses, by their successive growth and decay, 
form the combustible substratum of those exten- 
sive and at present uncultivated tracts in Ire- 
land, which, till they shall have happily been 
reclaimed by the industry of a yet barbarous 
population, contribute by the turf and peat 
which they afford, to the comfort of myriads of 
individuals ; who, were it not for this source of 
supply, would be, in their present state, in total 
want of one of the principal necessaries of life. 

In many populous districts of this island, the 
aboriginal forests, which formerly so amply sup- 
plied the surrounding inhabitants, have long 
since been cleared from the surface of the earth : 
and their site is now occupied by cultivated 
lands and a condensed population. The former 
source of fuel has consequently in such parts 
long since failed : but the clearing of the surface 
has in many places detected that invaluable mi- 
neral combustible, which, usually bearing in it- 
self indubitable marks of a vegetable origin, 
from the traces of organization still apparent in 
almost every part of its substance, was deposited 
ages before it was wanted, as a future substi- 
tute for the fuel which in the meantime has 
been derived from the actually existing veget- 
able kingdom. 

It is not intended here to enter into the gene- 
ral consideration of those geological formations 
called coal Jields, which are the repositories of 



106 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

this useful mineral: but there is one circum- 
stance in their history so evidently calculated 
to facilitate the labour of man in obtaining this 
substance, and to extend its supply, and so re- 
markably though not exclusively characteristic 
of those particular formations, that, though not 
obvious to a general observer, it cannot fail to 
arrest the attention of those to whom it is pointed 
out. A coal field may be represented, in a po- 
pular description, as consisting of a succession 
of alternating strata of coal and sand-stone, &c: 
which, having been originally deposited in a 
basin-shaped cavity, in such a manner as to be 
at the same time parallel to the concave surface 
of the basin and to each other, have been sub- 
sequently broken up by some force that has 
thrown the planes of the ruptured masses into 
various directions. Now, had the strata remained 
undisturbed, a very considerable proportion of 
the coal which is now quarried would most pro- 
bably never have been obtained by human in- 
dustry: for, the strata dipping down from the 
circumference towards the centre of the basin, 
that perpendicular depth, beyond which it is 
practically impossible to work the coal, would 
soon have been reached in the operation of min- 
ing. But, in consequence of the rupture and 
consequent dislocation of the strata, many of 
those portions which were originally deposited 
at such a depth beneath the surface as would 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 107 



have rendered the working of them impossible, 
have been thrown up to the very surface ; and 
thus have become available to the miner. 

SECT. IV. 
The general Uses of Water. 

One of the earliest political punishments of 
ancient Rome affords an indirect but very re- 
markable proof, of the immediate importance of 
the elements of fire and water h to human life : 
for this punishment consisting, in part, in an in- 
terdiction from the use of water, compelled the 
individual so punished to fly from his native 
neighbourhood, in order to obtain that neces- 
sary article of support elsewhere : and, hence, 
banishment and interdiction from fire and water 
became synonymous terms. There are few who 
have not experienced the uneasy sensation oc- 
casioned by even a temporary privation of this 
necessary: and the death that ensues upon a 

k An apology will hardly be required for applying the term 
clement to a substance, which though it has long been experi- 
mentally ascertained to be a compound, will in a popular view 
be always considered as a simple body ; especially if it be re- 
membered that even among the ancients this term did not neces- 
sarily imply that the substance so called was absolutely a simple 
or uncompounded body. It was sufficient with them, that, in 
all the known processes and phenomena of nature, the substance 
presented itself under the same essential form : but they were 
prepared to allow that elementary bodies (aroix^a) might possi- 
bly be resolved into absolutely simple principles («px a 0- 



108 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

continued privation of it is, perhaps, of all modes 
of death the most dreadful. This we learn from 
the occasional accounts of individuals who have 
escaped from shipwrecks, in which their com- 
panions had perished amidst the agonies of 
thirst. And it is said of those unhappy victims 
of a barbarous punishment, in Persia, (who be- 
ing immured in masonry as to every part of 
their body but the head, are left to perish in 
that state,) that they terminate their last hours, 
perhaps days, in incessant cries for water. 

The necessity of this element for our support 
may be antecedently inferred, on philosophical 
principles, from an examination of the physical 
composition of any animal body ; of which, in 
by far the greater number of instances, more 
than three-fourths of the whole weight are due 
to the presence of water. This water of com- 
position may be easily separated by the appli- 
cation of a moderate degree of heat, or even by 
spontaneous evaporation at a common tempera- 
ture, without any further decomposition of the 
body ; the muscles and skin consequently shrink- 
ing to such an extent, as to give the whole frame 
the appearance of a skeleton, enveloped, as it 
were, in parchment. Such a result is occasion- 
ally observable in human bodies which have 
been deposited in dry cemeteries ; and is by no 
means uncommon in the case of small animals, 
as rats, for instance, which having been acci- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 109 

dentally wedged in between a wall and a wains- 
cot, are subsequently found in the state above 
described. 

An experiment of a very simple character in 
itself, and very easily made, will serve to ascer- 
tain, not only the proportional quantity of water 
of composition contained in some forms of ani- 
mal matter, but also the properties communi- 
cated by the presence of that element thus com- 
bined. Every one has noticed the opaline or 
milky appearance and the remarkable elasticity 
of cartilage, or gristle, as it is more commonly 
called : which characters depend on the water 
contained in it ; for if a piece of gristle, the 
weight of which has been previously ascertained, 
be exposed to the air of a warm room, it will at 
the end of a few hours have lost a portion of its 
weight ; and will have become nearly transpa- 
rent, and entirely inelastic : and if, in this state, 
it be immersed in water, it will gradually re- 
cover its original weight, and also its elasticity 
and opaline appearance. If, instead of gristle, 
a piece of boiled white of egg be employed, the 
same results will be observable ; for, together 
with loss of weight and elasticity, it will become 
brittle, and nearly as transparent as pure am- 
ber : and on the other hand, by subsequent im- 
mersion in water, its original properties will be 
soon restored. By experiments nearly as simple 
as those above mentioned it may be demon- 



110 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

strated, that all the liquid and solid parts of an 
animal, with some few exceptions, contain or 
consist of more than three-fourths of their weight 
of water : the importance of which element in 
the mere composition of our body is hence di- 
rectly evident. 

But if we would have a familiar illustration of 
its importance in the daily and hourly occur- 
rences of life, let us in imagination accompany 
an individual of moderate rank and condition in 
society, from the time of his rising in the morn- 
ing till the hour of sleep at night, in order to ob- 
serve the utility of water in administering either 
directly or indirectly to his various wants and 
habits. How great is the comfort, to say nothing 
of the salubrity of the practice, which results to 
him from the application of water to the surface 
of the body, by means either of the bath or any 
simpler process ! and, again, the change of the 
linen in which he is partially clothed is rendered 
equally comfortable and salutary, in consequence 
of its having been previously submitted to the 
process of washing. The infusion of coffee or of 
tea, which is probably an essential part of his 
earliest meal, could not have been prepared 
without water : neither could the flour of which 
his bread consists, have been kneaded ; nor the 
food of his subsequent meal, the broths and most 
of the vegetables at least, have been rendered 
digestible, without the aid of the same fluid ; 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. Ill 

and with respect to his common beverage, whe- 
ther milk, or any form of fermented liquor, water 
still constitutes the main bulk of that beverage. 

So far the use of water is directly and imme- 
diately necessary to his comfort and subsistence : 
but its indirect and remote necessity is equally 
observable in all that surrounds him. There is 
scarcely an article of his apparel, in some part 
of the preparation of which water has not been 
necessarily employed ; in the tanning of the 
leather of his shoes ; in the dressing of the flax 
of which his linen is made ; in the dyeing of the 
wool of his coat, or of the materials of his hat. 
Without water the china or earthen cups, out of 
which he drinks, could not have been turned on 
the lathe ; nor the bricks, of which his house is 
constructed, nor the mortar by which they are 
cemented, have been formed. The ink with 
which he writes, and the paper which receives 
it, could not have been made without the use of 
water. The knife with which he divides his 
solid food, and the spoon with which he con- 
veys it when in a liquid form to his mouth, could 
not have been, or at least have not probably been 
formed, without the application of water during 
some part of the process of making them. 

By water the medical principles of various 
vegetable and mineral substances are extracted, 
and rendered potable ; which could not be in- 
troduced into the animal system in a solid state: 



112 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

and this element itself becomes occasionally a 
most powerful medicinal instrument by its ex- 
ternal application, in every one of its forms ; 
whether as a liquid, under the name of the cold 
or warm bath ; or in the form of ice, in restrain- 
ing internal inflammation and hemorrhage; or in 
the state of steam, as in the application of the 
vapour bath. 

sect. v. 
Baths. 

The custom of bathing, whether in a medium 
of a high or of a low temperature, appears to be 
in a great measure derived from the gratification 
of a natural feeling : for we find it prevalent in 
every country and in every stage of society, not 
only with reference to its medicinal effects, but 
as a mere luxury. Thus at every season of the 
year, when the sky is serene at least, the in- 
habitants of hot climates plunge into their native 
streams for the sake of the refreshment impart- 
ed to the surface of their bodies ; and the same 
refreshment is equally sought by the natives of 
colder climates during the heat of their short 
summer : in each of which instances the plea- 
surable sensation is the principal motive for the 
practice. But on some occasions a more per- 
manent good is sought ; and the hope of imme- 
diate pleasure is so far from being the motive, 
that a sensation very nearly allied to pain, and 
in many instances less tolerable than pain itself, 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 113 

is encountered in the shock of the cold bath, 
with a view to the preservation or restoration of 
health. It may be said perhaps that the glow 
of warmth which usually succeeds this shock is 
in itself a pleasure ; as indeed it is : but it may 
be presumed that very few individuals expe- 
rience any pleasure from the shock itself, or 
would consent to encounter it but for its plea- 
surable and beneficial consequences. 

For the enjoyment of the cold bath nature 
affords the immediate resource of springs and 
rivers, in almost every part of the world ; but 
the enjoyment of the warm bath is in general 
not easily attainable ; warm springs being com- 
paratively of rare occurrence : the pleasure of 
the warm bath however is so congenial to man's 
feelings, that it is sought for by savages as well 
as by the inhabitants of the most luxurious 
cities; and is as acceptable in tropical as in 
cold climates. 

It is at all times interesting to contemplate the 
expedients which human ingenuity discovers for 
the accomplishment of its purposes : but such a 
contemplation is more particularly interesting 
when it developes the revival of a principle, the 
knowledge of which had been buried during 
many centuries of intervening ignorance ; and 
thus justifies the reflection of moral wisdom : 

" Malta renascent ur, quae jam cecidere.* 1 
" The thing that hath been, it is that which shall 

i 



114 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

" be ; and that which is done is that which shall 
" be done : and there is no new thing under the 

" sun.' 1 

In a most amusing and instructive account 
of Pompeii, which forms one of the volumes 
published under the name of the Library of En- 
tertaining Knowledge, is a dissertation on the 
Baths of the Ancients ; which will amply repay, 
by the information it conveys, the time occupied 
in its perusal. In that dissertation is contained 
a description of the remains of some public 
baths, discovered in the excavations of Pompeii : 
and with reference to the disposition of the fur- 
nace of the baths a fact is stated, which is pecu- 
liarly applicable to our present purpose. 

It is evident that, in consequence of the enor- 
mous quantity of water which was daily heated 
in their public baths, the attention of the an- 
cients must necessarily have been directed to 
the most economical mode of applying the fuel 
by which the heat of the furnace was main- 
tained : and the following extract from the above- 
mentioned account of Pompeii will shew that, 
even in a small town of ancient Italy, an econo- 
mical principle was well understood and applied 
eighteen centuries since, which has only been of 
late revived in modern science. It is stated in 
that account (p. 152), that " close to the furnace, 
" at the distance of four inches, a round vacant 
" space still remains, in which was placed the 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 115 

44 copper for boiling water (caldarium) ; near 
" which, with the same interval between them, 
" was placed the copper for warm water (tepi- 
44 darium)', and at the distance of two feet from 
44 this was the receptacle for cold water (fri- 
" gidarium). A constant communication was 
44 maintained between these vessels ; so that as 
44 fast as hot water was drawn off from the cal- 
" darium, the void was supplied from the tepi- 
" darium, which, being already considerably 
" heated, did but slightly reduce the tempera- 
44 ture of the hotter boiler. The tepidarium in 
44 its turn was supplied from a general reservoir: 
44 so that the heat which was not taken up by 
" the first boiler passed on to the second ; and, 
44 instead of being wasted, did its office in pre- 
44 paring the contents of the second for the higher 
44 temperature which it was to obtain in the first. 
" It is but lately that this principle has been 
" introduced into modern furnaces ; but its use 
44 in reducing the consumption of fuel is well 
44 known." 

In the same account of Pompeii is afforded a 
striking instance, with reference to the vapour 
bath, not only of the similarity of the means 
employed for producing a similar effect, by in- 
dividuals between whom no communication can 
be traced or even supposed ; but also a similarity 
of custom, with reference to the enjoyment of 
social intercourse, between communities not less 

i 2 



116 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

widely separated from each other by time and 
space, than by degree of civilization ; between 
the luxurious inhabitants of imperial Rome 
eighteen centuries ago, and the savage tribes of 
north-western America at the present day. 
The author of the account of Pompeii states 
(p. 187 — 190), on the authority of Tooke's Rus- 
sia, " that the Russian baths, as used by the 
" common people, bear a close resemblance to 
44 the vapour bath (laconicum) of the Romans. 
44 They usually consist of wooden houses, situ- 
" ated, if possible, by the side of a running 
44 stream. In the bath-room is a large vaulted 
44 oven, which, when heated, makes the paving 
44 stones lying upon it red hot ; and adjoining 
44 to the oven is a kettle fixed in masonry for 
44 the purpose of holding boiling water. In those 
44 parts of the country where wood is scarce, the 
44 baths sometimes consist of wretched caverns, 
44 commonly dug in the earth close to the bank 
44 of some river. The heat in the bath-room is 
44 usually from 104° to 122° of Fahrenheit ; and 
44 may be much increased by throwing water on 
44 the glowing hot stones in the chamber of the 
44 oven. The Russian baths therefore are va- 
44 pour-baths ; and it appears that even the sa- 
44 vage tribes of America are not wholly unac- 
44 quainted with the use of the vapour-bath. 
44 Lewis and Clarke, in their voyage up the Mis- 
44 souri, have described one of these in the fol- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 117 

44 lowing terms : * We observed a vapour-bath, 
" consisting of a hollow square of six or eight 
" feet deep, formed in the river bank by dam- 
44 ming up with mud the other three sides, and 
44 covering the whole completely, except an aper- 
" ture about two feet wide at the top. The 
44 bathers descend by this hole, taking with 
" them a number of heated stones, and jugs 
" of water ; and, after being seated round the 
44 room, throw the water on the stones till the 
44 steam becomes of a temperature sufficiently 
44 high for their purposes 

It appears then, from the foregoing statement, 
that the peasants of Russia, and the savages of 
North America, are in the habit of employing 
the same means for converting water into va- 
pour, which were employed by the Romans at 
the most luxurious period in their history : and 
to the peasants of Russia and the savages of 
North America, may be added the natives of 
New Zealand and other islands of the Pacific 
ocean ; merely with this qualification, that they 
employ the steam, so raised, not for the purpose 
of a vapour-bath, but of dressing their food. 

It is worthy of notice, as illustrative of the 
social feeling inherent in human nature, that, 
equally among the uncivilized natives of Ame- 
rica as among the luxurious inhabitants of an- 

1 Sauer, in his account of Billings's expedition, describes the 
same kind of bath as used in north-western America (p. 175). 

I 3 



118 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

cient Italy, "it is very uncommon for an indi- 
" vidua! to bathe alone ; he is generally accom- 
" panied by one, or sometimes several, of his 
" acquaintance: bathing indeed is so essentially 
" a social amusement, that to decline going in 
" to bathe, when invited by a friend, is one of 
" the highest indignities that can be offered to 
" him" (p. 190). 

SECT. VI. 
The Fluidity of Water. 

Familiarized as we are to the consequences 
resulting from that property of water, whereby its 
particles move so easily among themselves as to 
yield to the least impulse, provided there be space 
for yielding, we rarely perhaps meditate on its 
importance : and yet it is entirely owing to this 
property that a free communication is capable 
of being maintained between distant parts of the 
world by means of the ocean at large, and be- 
tween different parts of the same country by 
means of navigable rivers ; or by those more 
than rivals of navigable rivers, artificial canals k . 

Rarely also, perhaps, do we meditate on the 
equally important fact, that, throughout the 
greater part of the world this element usually 

k It has been stated, on credible authority, that an agent of 
a great proprietor of canals being incidentally asked., during a 
legal examination, for what purpose he conceived rivers had 
been made, answered, " that, no doubt, they were intended to 
" feed canals." 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 119 

exists in a liquid state : and important indeed is 
that fact ; for, of the three states under which it 
is capable of existing, namely of ice, water, and 
vapour, if its predominant state had been that 
of ice or of vapour, philosophers might possibly 
have conjectured, but the world could never 
have seen realized, the mighty results of com- 
merce as depending on the art of navigation. 

From the same physical character of water, 
above described, namely, its fluidity, manifest- 
ing itself actively instead of passively, are daily 
produced results of equal importance to society, 
and equally surprising in themselves. Who in- 
deed can adequately describe the advantages 
derived from water in aiding the powers of me- 
chanism, from the half-decayed and moss-grown 
wheel that scarcely sets in motion the grinding- 
stone of the village mill, to the astonishing mo- 
mentum of the steam engine which kneads a 
hundred tons of heated iron with as much ease 
as the hands of the potter knead a lump of clay ! 

And here, since it is of the utmost importance 
to mankind that this element should usually 
exist in a liquid state, let us pause a while to in- 
vestigate the means employed by nature to pre- 
vent its rapid conversion either into vapour or 
into ice. For although its partial existence in 
both those states is perhaps eventually as neces- 
sary to the general good of the world as its more 
common state of water, yet, if its sudden or rapid 

i 4 



120 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

conversion into either were not prevented, great 
temporary evil would necessarily ensue from our 
privation of it as a liquid. 

It has been already mentioned that the atmo- 
sphere constantly holds in solution or suspension 
a great body of water, in a state of minute divi- 
sion : but the quantity that can be carried up 
into the atmosphere by the process of evapora- 
tion is limited in two ways ; first, by the air's 
incapability of holding in suspension more than 
a certain proportion ; and secondly, by the re- 
straining effect of the pressure of the atmo- 
sphere. But the rapid evaporation of water is 
also prevented by the comparatively low tempe- 
rature at which all its natural forms exist, even 
in tropical latitudes. 

The prevention of the sudden conversion of 
water into ice depends on a peculiarity in its 
physical constitution, which is no less remark- 
able in a simply philosophical point of view, 
than beneficial in its result to the great bulk of 
mankind. Water, in common with all other 
forms of matter, is gradually contracted in its 
volume by a diminution of its temperature ; and 
ultimately passes into a solid state. It does not 
however continue to be condensed to the mo- 
ment of its congelation, but only to a certain de- 
gree of temperature ; from whence it begins to 
expand ; and continues to expand till it arrives 
at the point of congelation. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 121 

In this deviation from a general law we find a 
very beneficial accommodation to the wants of 
man : for had it been the property of water to 
become more and more condensed as it ap- 
proached the point of congelation, one of the 
consequences would have been that lakes and 
rivers, instead of becoming gradually frozen from 
the surface towards their bed, would almost in a 
moment have become one solid mass of ice : and 
the evil that would be produced by such an ef- 
fect may be conjectured, by considering that 
whenever a long protracted and severe frost has 
thickened to an unusual extent the superincum- 
bent stratum of ice, the difficulty of breaking 
through this stratum, in order to arrive at the 
water beneath, is proportionally increased, and 
sometimes becomes practically insuperable. 

It will be interesting to trace the steps by 
which this providential law of nature is mani- 
fested : and the whole process is easily rendered 
intelligible to any one who will simply bear in 
mind these three points, namely, that the aver- 
age temperature of lakes and rivers is during 
the heat of summer more or less above the 40th 
degree of Fahrenheit's scale ; that water itself at 
about the 40th degree is of its greatest density ; 
and that under all common circumstances it 
freezes, or becomes solid, at the 32d degree. If 
we suppose then the temperature of a pool or 
lake to equal at any given moment the 50th de- 



122 



ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 



gree of Fahrenheit ; and a gradual reduction of 
its temperature to take place from that moment 
by the effect of a constantly diminishing tem- 
perature of the air ; under such circumstances 
the following phenomena would occur. The 
particles of the water at the surface becoming 
more condensed, that is heavier, as they became 
cooler, would sink towards the bottom, and be 
replaced by the hitherto subjacent particles; 
which in their turn, undergoing a similar de- 
crease in their temperature and condensation, 
would consequently subside towards the bot- 
tom ; till at length the whole mass of water had 
arrived at the temperature of about 40°. From 
this point any progressive decrease of tempe- 
rature would have an expansive effect upon the 
particles of water near the surface ; which, being 
thus rendered relatively lighter than the parti- 
cles of the subjacent mass, would not subside; 
but, remaining on the surface, would continue 
to be expanded and made still lighter till they 
had reached the temperature of 32° ; at which de- 
gree, under ordinary circumstances, they would 
freeze. But the coat of ice thus formed would 
be, in some measure, a barrier to the effect of 
the colder atmosphere upon the bulk of the 
water beneath ; which consequently would re- 
main for a comparatively longer time in a 
liquid state ; and would be easily procured for 
general purposes, by making partial openings 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 123 

through the frozen surface. Now if the density 
of water continued to increase in a regular pro- 
gression to the moment of congelation, it would 
necessarily happen, from the sinking of the par- 
ticles gradually thus condensed, that at some 
given moment the temperature of the whole 
mass, still in a liquid state, would have arrived 
at the freezing point ; and consequently the 
whole mass would have been frozen, or be- 
come solid, at the same moment. The possi- 
bility of such a simultaneous congelation is not 
merely a philosophical deduction, it sometimes 
actually occurs. Thus, under certain circum- 
stances, particularly if kept entirely free from 
agitation, water, still retaining its liquid form, 
may be cooled down to a point several degrees 
below that of congelation ; when, upon a slight 
agitation, the whole mass is converted at once 
into the state of ice. 

SECT. VII. 

The natural Sources of Water. 

For the supply of a substance of such imme- 
diate necessity to the very existence- of man, 
and of such extensive utility in promoting his 
comforts, nature has provided the amplest means; 
all however ultimately derived from that mass of 
water which has been carried up into the at- 
mosphere by evaporation from the sea : so that 
if that evaporation were to fail, all forms of ani- 



124 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

mal and vegetable matter, with the exception of 
those which belong to the ocean itself, would 
soon perish ; for under such circumstances the 
earth would be deprived of those seasonable 
showers, without which its vegetable produc- 
tions could not be sustained ; and every spring 
would soon fail, and every river be dried up : 
for rivers are in most instances formed by the 
progressive accumiilation of various torrents ; 
and these are produced by that portion of rain 
which, having fallen upon the ridges andVin- 
clined surfaces of hills and mountains, descends 
more rapidly than the soil can absorb it : and 
springs result, in a manner that will be hereafter 
mentioned, from the accumulation of that por- 
tion of the rain which sinks beneath the surface 
on which it has fallen. But it is evident that if 
the vegetable world were to perish, the animal 
world could not long survive. 

Nor are the laws by which the moisture, con- 
tained in the atmosphere, is precipitated from it 
in dews or rain, among the least admirable in- 
stances of the provision made by nature for a 
constant supply of the wants of man. 

The mechanism, if the term be allowable, by 
which the formation of clouds and the occa- 
sional descent of rain are regulated, resides in 
the variableness of the state of the heat and 
electricity of the atmosphere : in consequence of 
which a given mass of air is incapable of re- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 125 

taming, in solution or suspension, the same quan- 
tity of moisture which it did before ; and hence 
that moisture is precipitated in the form of dews 
and fogs ; or, being previously condensed into 
accumulated masses of clouds, is discharged from 
those clouds in the form of rain. 

It almost seems puerile to illustrate the adap- 
tation of the present laws and order of nature to 
the wants of man, by the supposition of the con- 
sequences that would ensue from a failure of those 
laws ; and yet, as in actual life we often feel not 
the value of the good which we possess, till ad- 
monished by the prospect of its loss ; so, with 
reference to the constitution of nature, we may 
more forcibly be impressed with the conviction 
of its general harmony and subserviency to our 
wants, by the supposition of its being different 
from what it is, than by the direct contemplation 
of its actual state. In supposing then that means 
had not been provided for the regular discharge 
of portions of that mass of water which has been 
carried up into the atmosphere by the process 
of evaporation, the existence of that mass would 
have been of little avail to man : for mere con- 
tact of an atmosphere, however moist, could not 
promote vegetation to any useful extent 1 ; and 

1 Xiebuhr asserts, what is confirmed by other travellers, that 
many tracts in Eg) pt and Palestine, formerly well cultivated and 
fertile, are at present mere deserts for want or' irrigation. (Des- 
cript. de fArabie, p. 241.) 



126 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

the formation of springs and rivers would be as 
effectually prevented by rain ceasing to fall from 
the atmosphere, as if the material of the rain it- 
self did not exist in it. 

Of the modes in which nature disposes of the 
rain that has fallen on the earth, and of the 
formation of natural springs and rivers, more 
particular notice will be taken hereafter : but it 
may be observed by the way, that, although 
there is scarcely any substance which water is 
not capable of dissolving to a certain extent, 
and consequently no natural form of water is 
pure, yet in almost every instance the natural 
forms of water are not only innocuous, but sa- 
lutary. 

SECT. VIII. 

The Air of the Atmosphere, as connected with Respiration. 

If we suppose the atmosphere deprived of 
heat, and light, and moisture, and of all those 
other heterogeneous particles which are either 
naturally or accidentally contained in it ; there 
still remains the medium which is the receptacle 
or vehicle of those various substances : and this 
medium is indeed that, which in common appre- 
hension is understood to be the atmosphere it- 
self. 

Of the vital importance of atmospherical air 
no formal proof can be required ; for every one 
capable of the least reflection must know that 
its presence is almost constantly necessary to the 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 127 

existence of man, from the moment of his birth 
to that of his death. Of all other external aids 
we may be deprived for a comparatively long 
time without danger, or even without much in- 
convenience ; of light and heat for instance, and 
of food and sleep : but we cannot be deprived of 
the air which we breathe even for a very few 
minutes, without dreadful distress ; or, if for 
more than a very few minutes, without the ex- 
tinction of life. 

This vital importance of the air depends, prin- 
cipally, on its capability of assisting to withdraw 
from the body, chiefly through the agency of the 
lungs, portions of that peculiar principle called 
carbon ; the permanent retention of which would 
be incompatible with the continuance of life. 
And the union of this principle with one of the 
constituent parts of atmospherical air is pro- 
bably effected in the lungs during the process of 
respiration ; the compound passing off in the act 
of expiration, in the state of an aeriform fluid, 
called carbonic acid gas. 

But, in order to give a clear idea of the nature 
of the process of respiration, it will be necessary 
to explain more particularly not only the con- 
stitution of that portion of the atmosphere which 
supports this process, but some of its chemical 
relations to other substances. Atmospherical air 
then, considering it in its adaptation to the pro- 
fess of respiration, consists of a mixture or com- 



128 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

bination of two aeriform fluids, which are very 
different from each other in character, but inti- 
mately blended together in the proportion of four 
to one. Of these two fluids, that which is in the 
smaller proportion is not only capable of sup- 
porting life, when respired or breathed alone ; 
but is capable of supporting it for a much longer 
period than an equal volume of atmospherical 
air would have supported it : and if, instead of 
being employed for the process of respiration, it 
be made the medium of supporting combustion, 
the consequent phenomena are still more re- 
markable ; for the combustible body not only 
burns for a longer time than it would have done 
in the same quantity of atmospherical air, but it 
burns with an intensity much more vivid ; the 
light of the flame being in many instances too 
powerful to be easily borne by the eye. On the 
other hand, that constituent part of atmospherical 
air, which is in the greater proportion, not only 
will not support either life or flame, even for a 
short time ; but extinguishes both, almost in an 
instant. 

By numerous experiments, which it is at pre- 
sent unnecessary to describe, it has been ascer- 
tained, that many of the metals are capable of 
attracting and combining with this respirable 
part of the air : during which process the me- 
tallic body assumes an earthy character, and be- 
comes increased in weight ; while the weight of 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 



129 



the air, in which the experiment has been con- 
ducted, becomes diminished exactly to the 
amount in which that of the metal has been in- 
creased : and, at the same time, the residuary 
portion of the air which has been employed in 
the experiment equals only about four fifths of 
the original volume ; and is now incapable of 
supporting either life or flame. But, by pro- 
cesses well known to chemists, the metallic sub- 
stance may be made to yield a quantity of air 
equalling that which has been lost during the ex- 
periment, the metal at the same time returning 
to its original state and weight ; while the air, 
thus separated, if added to the residual portion, 
not only restores the volume and weight of the 
original quantity ; but also its power of support- 
ing life and flame. 

If, instead of a metal, certain inflammable 
substances be employed, similar changes are ef- 
fected on the air; and the inflammable sub- 
stance, together with an increase of weight and 
other alterations, acquires acid properties ; and 
hence that respirable portion of the air has, from 
a Greek derivation, been called oxygen; as being 
the effective cause of the acidification of those 
inflammable bodies. It has moreover been 
ascertained that, during combustion, a piece 
of pure charcoal weighing twenty-eight grains 
combines with as much oxygen gas as would 
weigh seventy-two grains : and, as the volume 

K 



130 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

of the gas employed remains the same at the 
end of the experiment that it was at the be- 
ginning provided it be brought to the same de- 
gree of temperature and atmospherical pres- 
sure, it appears that the carbon is as it were 
held in solution by the gas : and as this che- 
mical compound of carbon and oxygen pos- 
sesses acid properties, it is called carbonic acid 
gas. 

A volume of this gas, then, which weighs one 
hundred grains, consists of twenty-eight grains 
of carbon chemically combined with seventy- 
two grains of oxygen : and it has certain pro- 
perties, by which, without the labour of actual 
analysis, it may be recognised from any other 
gas ; among the more important of which, for 
our present purpose at least, is the readiness 
with which it communicates a wheyish appear- 
ance to lime-water, when made to pass through 
that liquid. Making use of this character as 
a test, any individual may easily satisfy him- 
self that during the process of respiration a 
quantity of carbonic acid gas passes from his 
lungs : for if, after having inhaled a portion of 
atmospherical air uncontaminated with any mix- 
ture of it, he breathe slowly through a narrow 
tube, the further extremity of which is immersed 
beneath the surface of a portion of lime-water, 
he will observe that as the bubbles of air rise 
through the lime-water, that liquid becomes 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 131 

opaque ; and the opacity thus communicated to 
the water can be shewn to be the result of a 
compound formed by the union of the carbonic 
acid, which has evidently been given out from 
the lungs, with the lime previously held in solu- 
tion in the lime-water. 

Let it now be kept in mind that a hundred 
cubic inches of carbonic acid gas, under ordi- 
nary circumstances, weigh a little more than 
forty-six grains; and that a quantity of the 
same gas weighing a hundred grains contains 
twenty-eight grains of carbon ; and the follow- 
ing statement will be easily intelligible. It ap- 
pears, from experiments which have been made 
for the purpose, that during the process of re- 
spiration in an individual of ordinary size and 
health, about twenty-seven cubic inches and a 
half of carbonic acid gas are given off from the 
lungs in the course of one minute ; which at the 
end of twenty-four hours would amount to 39,600 
cubic inches, or in round numbers 40,000 ; and 
as 100 cubic inches weigh 46 J grains, 40,000 
would weigh 18,532 grains. Then, since a quan- 
tity of carbonic acid gas weighing 100 grains 
contains twenty-eight grains of carbon, a quan- 
tity weighing 18,532 grains would contain 5190 
grains, or nearly eleven ounces, at 480 grains 
to an ounce : so that a quantity of carbon equal- 
ling two thirds of a pound in weight is daily dis- 

k 2 



132 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

charged from the blood by means of the simple 
process of respiration. 

In an illustration of the general question of 
the adaptation of external nature to the physical 
condition of man, it is clearly immaterial whe- 
ther, during the process of respiration, the car- 
bonic acid is supposed to be produced by the 
union of the carbon of the animal system with 
the oxygen of the air respired ; or whether, as 
is possible, the carbonic acid, having been pre- 
viously formed in the body at large, is given off 
in the form of carbonic acid gas from the lungs, 
while the oxygen gas of the atmosphere is ab- 
sorbed by those organs. The main point to be 
considered is, the fact of the removal of that quan- 
tity of carbon, which could not be retained with 
safety to the life of the individual : and when we 
consider that the entire quantity of the carbon, 
thus discharged, is collected from every the most 
interior and remote part of the body, how worthy 
of admiration is the economy of nature in pro- 
ducing the intended effect ! The air is the me- 
dium through which the carbon is to be dis- 
charged ; and yet the constitution of the body 
is such, that the air could scarcely be introduced 
into any of its internal parts without occasioning 
the most serious consequences, if not death it- 
self : but by means of the circulation of the blood, 
that beautiful contrivance intended primarily for 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 133 

sustaining the nourishment and warmth and life 
of every part, the noxious principle is conveyed 
to the lungs ; where it is of necessity brought, if 
not actually, yet virtually, into contact with the 
air ; and thus it is effectually removed from the 
system. 

SECT. IX. 

Effects of the Motion of the Air, as connected with 
Human Health, Sfc. 

In the history of water we had an opportu- 
nity of observing how extensive are the benefits 
arising to mankind from that physical property, 
by which its particles are capable of moving 
with the greatest ease among each other : nor 
are the benefits less considerable, which arise 
from the same property in the element now 
under consideration ; especially when aided by 
those alterations in its volume, which follow upon 
every change of temperature : for from these 
combined causes arise those currents of air, 
which administer, in various modes, as well to 
the luxury and comforts of man, as to his most 
important wants. 

Who does not see the miseries that would re- 
sult from a stagnant atmosphere ? To the house- 
less and half-clothed mendicant indeed, who 
under exposure to a wintry sky instinctively 
collects his limbs into an attitude as fixed as 
marble, lest by their motion he should dissipate 
the stratum of warmer air immediately surround- 

k 3 



134 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

ing his body — to such an individual indeed, un- 
der such circumstances, a stagnant atmosphere 
becomes a benefit of the highest value ; not only 
by preventing or moderating the painful sensa- 
tion of cold ; but by preventing the dissipation 
of that degree of heat which is necessary for the 
preservation of the vital principle, which in his 
unsheltered state might otherwise possibly be 
soon extinguished. But let circumstances be 
reversed ; and, instead of the wretched beggar 
exposed to an inclement sky, let us picture to 
ourselves an Asiatic prince surrounded by all 
the luxuries which power and opulence can pro- 
cure, but oppressed by the sultry atmosphere of 
a burning sun ; how grateful to his feelings is 
the refreshing coolness occasioned by the arti- 
ficial agitation of the surrounding air : in order 
to extend the means of obtaining which gratifi- 
cation, fountains of water are customarily intro- 
duced into the interior rooms of Indian and 
Arabian palaces, the evaporation of the spray 
of which gives a refreshing coolness to the air. 
Or let us recur to scenes more familiar, and 
more illustrative of the effect produced ; to the 
bedside of the almost exhausted invalid, whose 
existence is alone made tolerable by the assidu- 
ous supply of fresh streams of air : there let us 
witness, in the thankful smile which animates 
his pallid countenance, the soothing sensation 
which the languid sufferer experiences. Even 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 135 

for such a momentary solace, what, of all his 
most valuable possessions, would not every one 
of those miserable victims have surrendered, 
who once perished in that dreadful dungeon of 
Calcutta ? 

In many instances nature tempers the high 
degree of heat belonging to particular climates, 
by the periodical recurrence of cooling winds at 
stated hours of the day. Thus, in the islands 
and on the coasts in general of the tropical re- 
gions of the earth, the alternations of what are 
called the sea and the land breeze are of the 
highest importance to the comfort and health 
of the inhabitants : of which the following state- 
ment, taken from an official paper on the medi- 
cal topography of Malacca, furnishes a sufficient 
illustration m . " The Malay peninsula possesses, 
" though within the tropics, and almost under 
44 the equator, a very equable temperature and 
44 mild climate. Whatever be the prevailing 
" wind, the sea-breeze generally sets in from 
4 4 the south between ten and twelve in the morn- 
44 ing, and continues till six or seven in the even- 
44 ing ; when, after a short calm, the land wind 
44 begins to blow from the north-east : and so 
44 constant are these breezes, that, unless dur- 
44 ing a storm, the influence of the monsoon is 
44 scarcely perceptible. And so uniform is their 

in Printed at the government press, Pinang, 1830. See the 
Edin. Med. and Surg. Journal, for July 1831, p. 17!)- 

k4 



136 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

" effect, with respect to the temperature of the 
" air, that, throughout the year, the variation 
" does not exceed fourteen or fifteen degrees of 
" Fahrenheit ; being rarely higher than eighty - 
" eight degrees, or lower than seventy- four de- 
" grees." 

And though the hurricanes, to which these 
regions are frequently exposed, are occasionally 
most dreadful in their effects upon the property 
and even the lives of the inhabitants ; yet we 
may not only be assured on general principles 
of reasoning that in the main they are beneficial, 
but on some occasions we have immediate de- 
monstration of their remedying a greater evil. 
Thus when swarms of a peculiar species of ant 
had, during many years, ravaged the island of 
Grenada, to so serious an extent that a reward 
of twenty thousand pounds had been offered to 
any one who should discover a practicable me- 
thod of destroying them ; and when neither 
poison nor fire had effected more than a partial 
and temporary destruction of them, they were 
at once swept away by a hurricane and its ac- 
companying torrents of rain. Of the numbers 
in which these insects occurred, some estimate 
may be formed from the following statement of 
an eyewitness of credible authority ; who says 
" he had seen the roads coloured by them for 
" many miles together ; and so crowded were 
" they in many places, that the print of the 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 137 

" horse's feet was in a moment filled up by the 
" surround ins: swarms 11 ." 

We who rarely are oppressed, for more than 
a few hours in a whole summer, by such a state 
of the atmosphere as occasionally precedes a 
thunderstorm, when no friendly breeze inter- 
poses to remove the close and humid stratum of 
air which envelopes our bodies, may well be 
thankful that our lot has not been cast in cer- 
tain regions of the earth ; in those Alpine val- 
leys, for instance, whose scarcely human inha- 
bitants attest the dreadful consequences of a 
confined atmosphere : the influence of which 
often affects not only the present sensations and 
comforts, but even the intellectual, and eventu- 
ally the moral character, of those who are ha- 
bitually exposed to it. 

It appears, from recent inquiries, that the phy- 
sical and intellectual and moral degradation, so 
often observable in the inhabitants of mountain 
valleys in general, but noticed particidarly in 
the valleys of the Rhone, may be referred with 
probability, among other causes, to a stagnant 
atmosphere ; and to the reverberation of heat 
from the sides of the mountains which bound 
those valleys, cooperating with an alternation of 
piercing winds : the degree of that degradation 
at least is always proportional to the action of 
those causes. 

o Philos. Trans. 1790, p. 347- 



138 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

It is not necessary here to dwell minutely on 
the disgusting alteration which the human be- 
ings, now particularized, undergo : those who 
are desirous of such information may consult a 
very recent work by Dr. James Johnson °. All 
that is here intended is a statement of the gene- 
ral fact. And it appears that, in the milder 
instances, the principal alteration which takes 
place is an enlargement of the thyreoid gland ; 
which enlargement is by medical men called 
bronchocele, and by the inhabitants of the Alps 
goitre?. In the instances of extreme alteration, 
the stature rarely reaches the height of five feet; 
the skin becomes unnaturally discoloured, and 
disfigured by eruptions ; the limbs distorted ; 
and the cretin, for so he is denominated in this 
state, is frequently, in addition, both deaf and 
dumb, and entirely idiotic. Between the state 
of simple goitre and that of most perfect cretin- 
ism the degree of alterations are innumerable. 
And, as indicating the connexion between this 
unnatural state of the individual, and the atmo- 
sphere which he habitually respires, the follow- 
ing observation is worthy of attention. " In the 

° Change of Air, &c. by James Johnson, M. D. London, 8vo. 
1831. 

P Such an enlargement we often in this country witness in 
individuals, who, in every other respect, are so far from being 
deformed, that they are frequently remarkable both on account 
of their beauty, and the symmetry and full developement of 
their whole body. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 139 

" Vallais," and " in the lower gorges or ravines 
" that open on its sides, both cretinism and goitre 
" prevail in the most intense degrees : as we as- 
" cend the neighbouring mountains, cretinism 
" disappears, and goitre only is observed ; and 
" when we reach a certain altitude, both mala- 
M dies vanish 

Among the physical effects of the motion of 
the air, that of sound is among the most remark- 
able and important : of the intimate nature of 
which, however, and of the laws that regulate 
its transmission, I should not speak more par- 
ticularly, even if I felt myself competent to the 
task ; being a subject of too abstruse a cha- 
racter in itself to claim a close investigation in 
a treatise like the present : besides which, it will 
be examined in a separate treatise by others. 
Whatever may be the moral effects either of 
simple sounds, or of certain combinations of 
sounds, and such effects though apparently of 
a fugitive character are occasionally very power- 
ful, there can be no doubt that particular sounds 
act physically on our frame. Thus the gentle 
murmur of running water, or the repetition of 
any simple tone, even though not agreeable in 
itself, is calculated to soothe the whole nervous 
system so as to induce sleep. There are few 
perhaps who have not experienced such an ef- 
fect, from long continued attention to a public 

q Change of Air &c. p. 58. 



140 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

speaker ; and an apparent, though probably not 
the legitimate, proof of the effect having been 
produced by the sound of the voice of the speaker 
is derived from the fact, that, upon his ceasing to 
speak, the sleeper usually awakes. There are 
few, again, who have not known from personal 
experience that certain tones affect the teeth 
with that peculiar and unpleasant sensation fa- 
miliarly described under the term, set on edge. 
Even in the appalling sensation excited by 
thunder, the mind is probably overawed by the 
physical effect produced on the nervous system 
by the crash, rather than by any apprehension 
of danger from the thunder itself : for that sensa- 
tion is usually excited even in those who are 
most assured that no danger is to be expected 
from the loudest crash of the thunder, but only 
from the lightning which accompanies it. Nor 
is it unreasonable to suppose that an analogy 
exists between the sense of hearing and the 
other senses, with reference to the objects of 
their several sensations : and since in the case 
of taste, of sight, of smell, and of touch, some 
objects are on reasonable grounds conjectured 
to be naturally offensive, while others are agree- 
able to the respective senses ; why, it may be 
asked, should not the same relations hold with 
respect to the ear and the peculiar objects of its 
sensation ? Evelyn well observes, that the boun- 
tiful Creator has left none of the senses which 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 141 

he has not gratified at once with their most 
agreeable and proper objects. 

Of all the objects of sense, sound perhaps, 
as a principle of mental association, the most 
powerfully excites a recollection of past scenes 
and feelings. Shakspeare briefly elucidates this 
principle in these lines : 

" Yet the first bringer of unwelcome new s 
" Hath but a losing office ; and his tongue 
" Sounds ever after as a sullen bell, 
" Remembered knolling a departed friend. 1 ' 

Henry IV. Part II. Act I. Scene 1. 

The author of the " Pleasures of Memory" 
not less forcibly illustrates the same principle. 

" The intrepid Swiss, who guards a foreign shore, 
" Condemned to climb his mountain cliffs no more, 
" If chance he hear the song so sweetly wild, 
" Which on those cliffs his infant hours beguiled, 
4; Melts at the long-lost scenes that round him rise, 
" And sinks a martyr to repentant sighs.*' 

Rogers, &c. page 21, line 1. 

Nor is the principle less powerfully illustrated 
in that most beautiful Psalm beginning with the 
words, " By the waters of Babylon we sat down 
" and wept :" for who can read that affecting 
apostrophe, " How shall we sing the Lord's 

song in a strange land," without entering into 
all the pathos of the scene represented by the 
sacred poet to the imagination ? 

It is said to be the opinion of the Hindoos, 



142 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

and though not of much value in argument, there 
is at least a metaphysical elegance in the opin- 
ion, that the remarkable effects of music on the 
human mind depend on its power of recalling to 
the memory the airs of paradise, heard in a state 
of preexistence. 

But, if an individual instance of the truth of 
the present position were to be selected, it would 
not be possible perhaps to find one more im- 
pressive than that which has been recorded of 
the late emperor of the French. It is said that 
at that period of his life, when the consequences 
of his infatuated conduct had fully developed 
themselves in unforeseen reverses, Napoleon, 
driven to the necessity of defending himself 
within his own kingdom with the shattered rem- 
nant of his army, had taken up a position at 
Brienne, the very spot where he had received 
the rudiments of his early education ; when, un- 
expectedly, and while he was anxiously em- 
ployed in a practical application of those mili- 
tary principles which first exercised the ener- 
gies of his young mind in the college of Brienne, 
his attention was arrested by the sound of the 
church clock. The pomp of his imperial court, and 
even the glories of Marengo and of Austerlitz, 
faded for a moment from his regard, and almost 
from his recollection. Fixed for a while to the 
spot on which he stood, in motionless attention 
to the well known sound, he at length gave 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 143 

utterance to his feelings ; and condemned the 
tenour of his whole subsequent life, by con- 
fessing that the hours, then brought back to 
his recollection, were happier than any he had 
experienced throughout the whole course of his 
tempestuous career. He might perhaps with 
truth have added, when looking at the various 
objects of the surrounding scenery, 

" I feel the gales, that from ye blow, 
" A momentary bliss bestow."" 

Perhaps also during this moment, and in mak- 
ing a confession so humiliating, he actually did 
experience that moral state represented by Mil- 
ton to have been felt by the fallen angel — 

" Thrice he essayed (to speak) ; and thrice, in spite of scorn, 
" Tears, such as angels weep, burst forth — " 

But the effect produced on his mind seems to 
have been momentary ; at least it certainly did 
not alter his course of action. And too probably 
he was at that time rather tormented by re- 
morse, than softened by repentance ; a state but 
little favourable to the adoption of better coun- 
sels, even if he could then have retrieved his 
fortunes by such a change. 



144 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

SECT. X. 

Effects of the Motion of' the Air, as connected with the 
Arts, <$fc. 

I proceed now to consider the effects of the 
atmosphere, while in a state of motion, in aiding 
the various arts and operations of civilized so- 
ciety : in which the action is sometimes ex- 
plicable on mechanical, sometimes on chemical 
or on physical principles. 

It would not be a short or easy task to enu- 
merate the various substances which require to 
be deprived of all sensible moisture, in order to 
be applicable to the immediate purposes of life ; 
or in order to be capable of being preserved in a 
state fit for future use : and the separation of 
that moisture which they may contain in their 
natural state, or which they may have accident- 
ally contracted, can in general only be effected 
by exposure to the open air : but as that por- 
tion of the air, which is in contact with the 
moistened substance, would soon be so far sa- 
turated with the vapour arising from it as to be 
incapable of absorbing more, it must necessarily 
be replaced by successive portions of fresh air ; 
in order that the substance may be thoroughly 
dried : and hence we see the advantage of cur- 
rents of air, or, in common language, of the 
wind, for the purposes in question. Without 
the aid of such currents, the grass newly mown 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 145 

would often with difficulty be converted into 
hay : and with still more difficulty would that 
conversion take place should it during the pro- 
cess, as is most likely to happen, be exposed to 
rain. The same difficulty would occur, but at- 
tended with much more serious effects, in the 
case of sheaves of wheat or barley, which having 
been once drenched with rain would be ren- 
dered unfit for producing bread, unless the 
moisture were soon dissipated : and with re- 
spect to the process of reducing the corn itself 
to the state of meal, that is, in common lan- 
guage, of grinding it ; although many other 
mechanical means are capable of being applied 
to that purpose, who does not see the advan- 
tages of the common windmill, even where 
other means are available, which in many 
places they would not be ? but windmills would 
themselves be unavailable, were there no cur- 
rents of air to set them in motion. 

In the drying of moistened linen, and of paper 
newly made ; in the seasoning, as it is called, of 
wood; and on numerous other occasions, the 
same advantages occur from the same cause, 
and are explicable in the same way. But there 
is one instance, of very familiar occurrence, 
where the effect of a free ventilation is pro- 
ductive of the greatest comfort. At the break- 
ing up of a long protracted frost, during which 
the air has been enabled to absorb and retain in 

L 



146 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

an insensible state an unusual quantity of moist- 
ure, that moisture, as soon as the thaw takes 
place, is deposited upon the surface of every 
thing with which it comes in contact : and there 
can be scarcely an individual, from the peasant 
to the noble, who has not often experienced the 
comfortless state of the interior of his habitation 
from this cause. The opulent indeed, supposing 
that nature did not provide the remedy, might 
easily remove, and often do accelerate the re- 
moval of the evil, by the introduction of currents 
of air artificially heated : but the indigent, in- 
capable of commanding so expensive a remedy, 
would meet with serious detriment, did not a 
timely change in the state of the atmosphere 
enable it to reabsorb the moisture which had 
previously been discharged from it ; for many 
parts of the furniture of their habitation would 
be injured, or even destroyed by the moisture 
imbibed by them : and with respect to a much 
more important point, a healthy state of body, 
both the opulent and the indigent would be alike 
sufferers, from a continued exposure to the ex- 
ternal atmosphere in such a state. 

In the foregoing instances currents of air have 
been considered as acting on a fixed point as it 
were, or on bodies nearly stationary. Let us 
now consider their action on bodies capable of 
being set in motion, as nautical vessels of all 
kinds, and we shall not fail to see the import- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 147 

ance of that action to some of the highest in- 
terests of man. 

To those, of whatever condition in life, who 
are surrounded by the numerous resources of a 
commercial city, it is immediately of little im- 
port, unless as a question of mere corporeal feel- 
ing, whether the air be in a state of perfect 
calm, or freshened by a breeze ; and whether 
that breeze be from the east, or from the west. 
To the agriculturist even it is comparatively of 
little interest, unless at particular seasons, whe- 
ther the wind be high or low, or from what 
quarter it may come ; further than as particular 
states and directions of the wind are indications 
of rain or drought. But to those 44 who go down 
44 to the sea in ships, and occupy their business 
44 in great waters," not only the degree of force, but 
the direction of the wind, is of the highest mo- 
ment : while on many occasions, even in the 
present advanced state of science and naval ar- 
chitecture, a motionless state of the atmosphere, 
or a calm, might be fatal to all their specula- 
tions. Every one who has lived for a time on 
the sea-coast must have observed with what 
anxiety the owner of the smallest fishing boat 
watches the variations in the state or direction 
of the wind, as connected with the practicability 
of putting out to sea. If the wind be in an un- 
favourable quarter, or if it blow not with suffi- 
cient force to swell his sails, he saunters in list- 

l 2 



148 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

less inactivity along the beach : but if the wished 
for breeze spring up, the scene is at once changed, 
and all is alacrity and life. 

In some parts of the world Providence has 
compensated for the disadvantages arising from 
the general uncertainty of the wind, by the con- 
tinued regularity of its direction through stated 
seasons : in consequence of which, the merchant- 
man calculates upon the commencement and 
duration of his voyage with a degree of security 
and confidence, which sets him comparatively at 
ease as to the event. These periodical currents 
of air indeed have been named from this very 
circumstance the trade winds: and, in illustra- 
tion of their adaptation to the purposes of com- 
merce, a more striking instance perhaps could 
not be adduced than the following, which is 
given in a volume, entitled, " Four Years Resi- 
" dence in the West Indies," written by a gen- 
tleman of the name of Bayley r . In the descrip- 
tion of the island of St. Vincent it is there 
stated that a little sloop, the private signal of 
which was unknown to any of the merchants, 
sailed into the harbour one morning, and im- 
mediately attracted the notice of the surround- 
ing crowd ; and the history of its unexpected 
appearance is thus given. ' 6 Every one has 
" heard of the little fishing smacks employed in 
" cruising along the coast of Scotland ; which 

r London, 8vo, 1830, p. 292. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 149 

44 carry herrings and other fish to Leith, Edin- 
44 bnrgh, or Glasgow, worked by three or four 
" hardy sailors, and generally commanded by 
44 an individual having no other knowledge of 
4 4 navigation than that which enables him to 
" keep his dead reckoning, and to take the sun 
44 with his quadrant at noonday. 

44 It appears that a man who owned and com- 
44 manded one of these coasting vessels had been 
44 in the habit of seeing the West India ships 
44 load and unload in the several ports of Scot- 
44 land ; and, having learned that sugar was a 
44 very profitable cargo, he determined, by way 
44 of speculation, on making a trip to St. Vincent, 
44 and returning to the Scottish market with a 
44 few hogsheads of that commodity. The na- 
44 tives were perfectly astonished — they had never 
44 heard of such a feat before ; and they deemed 
44 it quite impossible that a mere fishing smack, 
44 worked by only four men, and commanded by 
44 an ignorant master, should plough the boister- 
44 ous billows of the Atlantic, and reach the West 
44 Indies in safety ; yet so it was. The hardy 
44 Scotchman freighted his vessel ; made sail ; 
44 crossed the bay of Biscay in a gale ; got into 
44 the trades ; and scudded along before the 
44 wind, at the rate of seven knots an hour, trust- 
44 ing to his dead reckoning all the way. He 
44 spoke no vessel during the whole voyage, and 
44 never once saw land until the morning of the 

l 3 



150 ADAPTATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE 

" thirty-fifth day; when he descried St. Vincent's 
" right a-head : and setting his gaft-topsail, he 
" ran down, under a light breeze, along the 
" windward coast of the island ; and came to 
" anchor about eleven o'clock under the circum- 
" stances before mentioned." 

Such a vessel, and so manned, could hardly 
have performed the voyage here described, had 
it not been aided by the current of the trade 
wind : and what then must be the advantage of 
such a wind, when, instead of aiding the puny 
enterprise of a single and obscure individual, it 
forwards the annual fleets of mighty nations. 
Most important therefore to the Roman empire 
was the discovery of Hippalus, which enabled 
its fleets to stretch across at once from the Afri- 
can to the Indian coast by means of the south- 
westerly monsoons. But, if we would view the 
subject in all its magnitude, let us contemplate 
with a philosophic eye the haven of any one of 
the larger sea-ports of Europe ; filled with ves- 
sels from every maritime nation of the world, 
freighted not only with every thing which the 
natural wants of man demand, or which the state 
of society has rendered necessary to his comfort, 
but with all which the most refined luxury has 
been able to suggest. " Merchandise," to use 
the words of Scripture, " of gold, and silver, and 
" precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, 
" and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 151 

" wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and 
" all manner vessels of most precious wood, 
" and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cin- 
" namon, and odours, and ointments, and frank - 
" incense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and 
" wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and 
" chariots." 

But the importance of all the foregoing points 
of consideration in the history of the relation of 
the air to human wants is far inferior to that 
highest and most beneficial of all its relations, 
the production of the human voice : for from this 
source arises articulate language ; without which 
medium of communication between man and 
man, what would become of the most important 
transactions of the business of life, as well as of 
its most rational pleasures, the charms of social 
converse ? But the consideration of the mechan- 
ism of the human voice is appropriated to a dis- 
tinct treatise : and the use of language is adapted 
rather to the moral than to the physical condition 
of man : and I therefore forbear to dwell on a 
theme in itself of the highest interest. 

In dismissing the subject of atmospherical air, 
I would wish to observe how beautiful an in- 
stance its history affords of the multiplicity of 
beneficial effects, of very different characters, 
produced by one and the same agent ; and 
often at one and the same moment. Thus while 
Ave have seen the air of the atmosphere serving 

l 4 



152 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



as the reservoir of that mass of water from whence 
clouds of rain, and consequently springs and 
rivers are derived, we have also seen that it at 
the same time prevents, by the effect of its pres- 
sure on their surface, the unlimited evaporation 
and consequent exhaustion of the ocean, and 
other sources, from whence that mass of water 
is supplied. And, again, while the agitation of 
the air contributes to the health of man, by sup- 
plying those currents which remove or prevent 
the accumulation of local impurities, it at the 
same time facilitates that intercourse between 
different nations in which the welfare of the 
whole world is ultimately concerned. And lastly, 
while in passing from the lungs in the act of ex- 
piration it essentially forms the voice, it at the 
same time removes from the system that noxious 
principle, the retention of which would be incom- 
patible with life. 



CHAP. VII. 

Adaptation of Minerals to the Physical Condition 
of Man. 

SECT. I. 

The general Characters of Minerals. 

IT has been shewn in the foregoing chapter, 
that the constituent parts of the atmosphere are 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 153 

few in number, and of great simplicity in their 
composition ; that some of them usually exist in 
the state of invisible vapour, and consequently 
are without sensible form and colour : and that 
others, as light, and heat, and electricity, are not 
only without form and colour, but are also of 
such tenuity as to be incapable of affecting the 
most delicately constructed balance ; in com- 
mon language, are without weight. We are now 
entering on a department of nature, which con- 
sists of objects characterised by properties very 
different from those Ave have been lately con- 
sidering ; remarkable, as a class, for the ma- 
thematical precision of their form, the bril- 
liancy and variety of their colour, and for their 
great weight ; most of them being many times 
heavier than the heaviest element of the at- 
mosphere. 

Few mineral substances, however, exist in such 
a state of purity as to exhibit the simple cha- 
racters of their individual properties ; the class 
consisting of a great variety of species, which 
are capable of entering into union with each 
other, and of which the natural combinations 
are extremely numerous. But, as might be an- 
ticipated from the general analogy of nature, 
the advantages arising to mankind from this 
mixture of character are infinitely greater than 
if the individual minerals had existed in a state 
of purity, and uncombined with each other. 



154 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



Thus, to take the most familiar, and perhaps 
the most important instance, almost all natural 
soils consist principally of mixtures of the three 
earths called silex, lime, and alumine; none of 
which, unmixed with either of the other two, or 
at least with some equivalent substance, would 
serve the purposes of agriculture. 

Again, all the common forms of clay consist 
principally of various combinations of the two 
earths called silex and alumine; and although 
many of those properties which make clay valu- 
able are communicated by the alumine, the si- 
lex contributes very considerably towards the 
general utility of the compound. 

SECT. II. 

Application of Minerals to Archi tecture and Sculpture. 
Among the earliest arts of civilized life may 
be justly reckoned the rudiments of architec- 
ture : for it may be with truth affirmed that, 
with very few exceptions, wherever man exists 
in a state of society, he is found to protect him- 
self from the vicissitudes of the weather, not 
only by the immediate clothing of his body, but 
by means of independent habitations ; to which, 
if at no other time, at the close of the day at 
least, he betakes himself ; in order to enjoy that 
periodical rest which is requisite for the re- 
newed exertion of his bodily powers : and very 
few are the situations which do not afford con- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 155 

venient materials for the purposes of build- 
ing. 

In whatever situation then man maybe placed, 
he will most probably have the means of procur- 
ing the comfort of a fixed habitation. Nor is it 
long before he adds a certain degree of luxury to 
utility : for wherever the simple architecture of 
the dwelling is not decorated with some orna- 
mental additions, we may be certain that society 
exists in a very low state of civilization ; so that 
sculpture, as an artificial refinement, seems to 
be a natural consequence of architecture. And, 
perhaps, the superiority attainable by educa- 
tion and habit is not displayed in any of the 
arts of life so strikingly as in these. From the 
simple tent of the Bedouin to the majestic ruins 
of Palmyra, among which it is pitched ; or from 
the rude hut of the modern Acropolis to the 
awful grandeur of the Parthenon which over- 
shadows it ; how infinite are the gradations 
which mark the progress of these arts ! 

And with respect to statuary, that highest de- 
partment of the art of sculpture, what emotions 
is it not capable of raising in the mind, particu- 
larly when employed in representing the pas- 
sions or any of the attributes of man! If, for 
instance, the mind of the savage could be instan- 
taneously elevated to the feeling of correct taste, 
what woidd be the sensations of the islander of 
the southern Pacific, in turning from the view 



156 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



of his hideously-formed and grim idol, to the 
contemplation of that glory of the Vatican, 

66 the Lord of the unerring bow, 

" The God of life, and poesy, and light ; 

" The sun in human limbs arrayed, and brow 

" All radiant from his triumph in the fight : 

" in whose eye 

" And nostril, beautiful disdain, and might, 
" And majesty, flash their full lightnings by, 
" Developing in that one glance the Deity s." 

I will not here attempt to trace the history of 
architecture, considered as an art characteristic 
of civilized society : for in such an attempt our 
reasoning must often be founded on conjecture 
instead of facts ; than which nothing is more un- 
satisfactory and irksome to a philosophically 
contemplative mind. It will be more congenial 
to the purpose of this treatise to point out the 
means afforded by nature for the advancement 
of an art, which in its origin is necessary to 
some of the chief wants and comforts of indivi- 
duals ; and which is subsequently conducive, by 
the exercise of the highest faculties of the mind, 
not only to national utility and glory, but also 
to national security 1 . 

With respect to the inferior animals, the in- 
stinctive propensity to construct receptacles for 
themselves or their offspring is obvious : and if 

s Childe Harold^ canto IV. stanza 161. 

* In the construction for instance of military fortifications, 
and piers, and bridges, &c. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 



157 



on any ground we may attribute the principle 
of instinct to man, it seems justifiable on that 
which we are now considering. Omitting, how- 
ever, those more remarkable instances of instinct 
which direct the bee, the ant, the spider, the 
swallow, or the bearer, in the fabrication of the 
structures which they put together with such 
nice art ; if we merely consider the simple bur- 
row of the rabbit or the mole, we seem to ac- 
quire a strong presumption that man would not 
be destitute of a similar instinct : and it may 
reasonably be supposed that, by whatever intel- 
lectual power or internal sensation the savage 
is directed so to adjust the various joints and 
muscles of his limbs as to balance his body 
when in danger of falling, by a similar power 
he is enabled so to adjust the rude boughs of 
which his hut is composed, that by mutually 
supporting one another they may at the same 
time serve for a support to the grass, or moss, 
which is thrown over them for the purpose of 
forming a shelter". Numerous traces of such 

u The following statement, from Lewis and Clarke's Travels, 
will shew how much may be effected by human ingenuity and 
industry though aided by the slightest means: "The Colum- 
" bian Indians possess very few axes ; and the only tool em- 
" ployed in their building, from the felling of the tree to the 
" delicate workmanship of the images, (adorning their canoes,) 
u is a chisel made of an old file : and this is worked without 
" the aid of a mallet But with this they finish a canoe fifty 
" feet long, and capable of holding between twenty and thirty 
" persons, in a few weeks." p. 435. To the preceding state- 



158 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



an instinct are observable in the amusements of 
children ; as in the arrangement of loose stones 
in the form of enclosures ; and in the formation 
of banks and dikes by the heaping up of the 
sand of the sea-beach : and, should it be asserted 
that such amusements are not to be referred to 
instinct, but are to be classed simply under the 
principle of imitation, (as may certainly many 
of the amusements of children,) it may be an- 
swered, that, if not original instincts, they may 
be considered as at least instinctive imitations 
of the necessary engagements of after-life. It 
has been sometimes supposed that the inclining 
branches of an avenue of elms or other trees 
suggested the idea of the gothic aisle ; but such 
a supposition seems both unnecessary in itself, 

ment may with propriety be added the following translation of 
the account which accompanies the twelfth plate in the first 
volume of De Bry : " The method of making boats in Virginia 
cc is truly wonderful : for, although the natives have no instru- 
" ments of iron, or in any way resembling those of Euroj)ean 
" nations, they still have the power of making boats fully capa- 
" ble of being conveniently navigated. Having selected a large 
" and lofty tree, they surround it with a fire just above the 
" roots ; taking care to smother any flame., lest it should injure 
" the rising part of the stem. In this way they burn through 
" the greater part of the stem ; and, by thus weakening it, oc- 
" casion its downfal. By a similar process they burn away the 
" branches and the upper part of the tree ; and, raising the 
" trunk thus prepared on forked props, so as to support it at 
" a convenient height for working, they scrape away the bark 
" by means of large shells ; and then excavate it in a longi- 
(C tudinal direction by alternately burning and scraping it." 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 159 

and incorrect as to the probable order of oc- 
currences : for whoever has read the travels of 
Pallas through different parts of the Russian 
empire, or of other Oriental travellers, will find 
ample proof of the existence of the gothic style 
of architecture long before our earliest European 
churches were built : and it is just as probable, 
if not more so, that the gothic aisle suggested 
the idea of the elm avenue, as that this sug- 
gested the idea of the gothic aisle. 

The mineral substances employed in the struc- 
ture of human habitations necessarily differ in 
different parts of the world, in consequence of 
the difference of the materials afforded by the 
subjacent strata; and, accordingly, an expe- 
rienced eye will conjecture, almost with cer- 
tainty, the character of the subjacent strata, 
from the nature of the materials employed in 
the buildings erected on the surface : or, con- 
versely, if the nature of the subjacent strata be 
antecedently known, the character of the stone 
employed in the buildings of the vicinity will, 
almost to a certainty, be known also ; and, on 
this principle, as much surprise would be ex- 
cited in the mind of a well-informed geologist 
by the prevalence of granite in the buildings of 
Kent or Sussex, as of limestone near the Land's 
End in Cornwall. 

The nature, however, of the material employed 
in building is in some measure determined by 



160 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



the particular stage of civilization of the inha- 
bitants. Thus in the early periods of civiliza- 
tion, and before the aboriginal forests of a coun- 
try have been cleared, wood has usually been 
the principal and almost the only substance em- 
ployed. In proportion as the population of a 
country increases, wood becomes more and more 
scarce; and then brick and stone begin to be 
employed : but when the population has in- 
creased to a very considerable extent, those ma- 
terials almost entirely supersede the use of wood, 
unless in the interior of the building : and hence, 
in this densely-peopled island, the half-timbered 
dwellings of our ancestors are daily becoming 
more picturesque x . 

The value of building-stone depending greatly 
on its hardness, but the difficulty of working it 
being increased proportionally to its degree of 
hardness, it ought not to escape our notice, in 
a treatise, of which it is the professed object to 
illustrate the adaptation of external nature to 
the physical condition of man, that many of the 
common forms of building-stone, though soft 
while yet undetached from the quarry, become 
hardened very considerably by exposure to the 
air : which change in their state enhances their 
value in a twofold sense; for, in consequence 

x Throughout the interior of Russia and of Siberia the greater 
part of the buildings in every town were, within a few years, 
entirely of wood. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 161 

of their previous softness, they are more easily 
worked ; while their subsequent hardness insures 
the greater durability of the building in which 
they are employed. And, again, though many 
varieties of stone are so easily worked, even 
after a long exposure to the air, as to have 
acquired in consequence the name of freestone; 
yet even with respect to such as are of the 
hardest and toughest quality, an equal degree 
of ease in working them is easily attainable by 
practice. To an unpractised workman, for in- 
stance, nothing is more difficult than to give a 
determinate form, by the hammer or chisel, to 
granite, slate, or flint ; and yet a little experi- 
ence enables the mason to work all these to the 
greatest nicety: and that person would indeed 
be very incurious, who, although he might not 
naturally be disposed to notice mechanical pro- 
cesses, did not feel an interest in observing the 
form which the roofing-slate takes under the 
bill of the slater; or the ease with which the 
gun-flint is formed into its peculiar shape by a 
few strokes of a light hammer. 

But, after the stones have been detached from 
the quarry, and have been worked into a con- 
venient form for building, it is in the greater 
number of instances necessary to the stability 
of the intended structure, that they should be 
consolidated together by some intermediate sub- 
stance : for it would very rarely happen that the 

M 



162 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



separate stones could be obtained of such a size 
as to be capable of remaining fixed by their 
own weight. Sometimes this effect is produced 
by means merely mechanical, as in the case of 
the construction of the larger circle of Stone- 
henge ; where the upper extremity of two con- 
tiguous perpendicular stones, being pared away 
so as to form what is called a tenon, is let into 
a corresponding cavity called a mortise cut into 
each extremity of the horizontal stone that unites 
them. 

As such Cyclopean masonry would be far too 
expensive for common purposes ; and as the la- 
bour and expense of uniting together, by cramps 
of iron or other mechanical means, the very 
great number of stones requisite for the con- 
struction of even a small building, would be end- 
less ; we at once see the importance of any me- 
dium that will fully and readily effect that 
union, without much expense of time or money : 
and how completely the substance called mor- 
tar answers the intended purpose, the slightest 
observation will make manifest. As the em- 
ployment of this useful substance appears to 
have existed antecedently to history, it is not 
worth while to spend any time in conjecturing 
how it was first discovered : but it is quite in 
unison with the intention of the present treatise 
to observe, that, of the three materials of which 
it is principally made, namely lime, sand, and 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 163 



water, the first is readily obtained by the simple 
application of heat to any common form of 
limestone, a process which is occasionally goino- 
on in every limekiln : and the means of ob- 
taining the two others are almost every where 
at hand. 

Hitherto the materials, applicable to the arts 
of architecture and sculpture, have been con- 
sidered as adapted to the common or necessary 
wants of mankind : but in what may not impro- 
perly be called the poetry of those arts, they are 
capable, in their application, of eliciting the high- 
est powers of the imagination : for surely this 
may with propriety be affirmed of such sublime 
productions as the Parthenon in architecture, 
or the Belvedere Apollo in sculpture. Xor are 
we obliged to seek for such productions solely 
in the classic ages of antiquity : for, to say no- 
thing of Palladio, Michael Angelo, Canova, 
Tliorvaldson, and other ornaments of modern 
Europe, our own country has given birth to 
works of the highest excellence in either depart- 
ment of the art. Nor need this assertion be 
made with any hesitation, while in architecture 
that imperishable monument of genius, the Eddy- 
stone lighthouse, attests the fameof Smeaton; and 
in sculpture, the pure and simple taste of Chan- 
trey ha>. in that most exquisite work contained 
within the walls of Litchfield cathedral, thrown 
a truth and beauty over the image of death, 

M '1 



164 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



which none of his predecessors had ever at- 
tained y. 

Who can peruse the journal of Smeaton, and 
not admire the penetration, the resources, and 
the activity of his genius ? Consider the nature 
of the task which he had engaged to perform ; 
his limited and uncertain opportunities of action ; 
the failures of others who had preceded him in 
a similar undertaking ; the consequent necessity 
of new principles, and new combinations, in his 
plan of operations ; the formidable dangers he 
was continually under the necessity of encoun- 
tering ; and, lastly, the awful responsibility of 
the undertaking itself : consider all these points, 
and it may be safely affirmed that, as an in- 
stance of the conjoined effects of personal enter- 
prise, fortitude, and perseverance, the Eddy- 
stone lighthouse stands unrivalled. 

On a small, precipitous, and completely insu- 
lated rock, deriving its very name from the irre- 
gular and impetuous eddies which prevail around 
it ; elevated but a few feet above the level of the 
surrounding ocean, even in its calmest state ; 
and exposed at all times to the uninterrupted 
swell of the Atlantic ; by the joint violence of 
the wind and waves of which, a preceding struc- 
ture had been in a moment swept away, leaving 
not a wreck behind ; on such a spot was this 

y One exception to this assertion perhaps exists, in a work on a 
similar subject by Banks ; in the church of Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 165 

new wonder of the world to be erected. Former 
experience is here of little avail, and common 
principles and means have been already tried in 
vain ; the architect is thrown almost entirely on 
his own resources ; and they do not fail him. 
In order to combat the force of those overpower- 
ing elements to which the future structure is to 
be constantly exposed, he looks about for that 
natural form which is found most permanently 
to resist a similar conflict ; and viewing with a 
philosophic eye the expanded base of the oak, 
and the varying proportions of its rising stem, 
he made the happy selection of this object as 
the type of the proportions of his intended work. 

" On this occasion," he himself says z , " the 
" natural figure of the waist or bole of a large 
61 spreading oak presented itself to my imagina- 
" tion. Let us for a moment consider this tree : 
" suppose at twelve or fifteen feet above its base, 
" it branches out in every direction, and forms 
* a large bushy top, as we often observe. This 
" top, when full of leaves, is subject to a very 
" great impulse from the agitation of violent 
" winds ; yet partly by its elasticity, and partly 
" by the natural strength arising from its figure, 
" it resists them all, even for ages, till the gra- 
" dual decay of the material diminishes the co- 
" herence of the parts, and they suffer piece- 

z A Narration of the Building, &c. of the Eddystone Light- 
house, London, 1791, p- 42. 

M 3 



166 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



" meal by the violence of the storm : but it is 
4 very rare that we hear of such a tree being 
' torn up by the roots. Let us now consider its 
* particular figure — connected with its roots, 
4 which lie hid below ground, it rises from the 
4 surface thereof with a large swelling base, 
4 which at the height of one diameter is gene- 
4 rally reduced by an elegant curve, concave to 
' the eye, to a diameter less by at least one 
4 third, and sometimes to half of its original 
4 base. From thence its taper diminishing more 
4 slow, its sides by degrees come into a perpen- 
4 dicular, and for some height form a cylinder. 

44 After that, a preparation of more circum- 
4 ference becomes necessary for the strong inser- 
4 tion and establishment of the principal boughs, 
4 which produces a swelling of its diameter. 
4 Now we can hardly doubt but that every sec- 
4 tion of the tree is nearly of an equal strength 
4 in proportion to what it has to resist : and 
4 were we to lop off its principal boughs, and 
4 expose it in that state to a rapid current of 
4 water, we should find it as much capable of 
4 resisting the action of the heavier fluid, when 
4 divested of the greatest part of its clothing, as 
4 it was that of the lighter when all its spread- 
4 ing ornaments were exposed to the fury of the 
4 winds : and hence we may derive an idea of 
4 what the shape of a column of the greatest 
4 stability ought to be, to resist the action of ex- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 167 

" ternal violence, when the quantity of matter is 
" given whereof it is to be composed. " 

But invention and composition do not consti- 
tute the whole of the character of genius, in the 
practical arts at least. Industry, both that which 
resists the listlessness arising from continuity and 
sameness of pursuit ; and, still more, that which, 
though repeatedly repressed by unexpected im- 
pediments, as repeatedly recovers its elasticity ; 
unconquerable and indefatigable industry, like 
that of the ant, is likewise requisite. And such 
industry did Smeaton manifest : and his industry 
has hitherto been completely crowned with suc- 
cess. The Eddy stone has withstood the war of 
winds and waves through the greater part of a 
century, unshaken in a single point : and if of 
any human work we dare affirm as much, we 
might affirm of this, " manet aeternumque ma- 
* nebit." 

We now turn to the efforts of genius, of an- 
other, and, intrinsically, a higher order — to that 
beautiful composition of Chantrey, to which al- 
lusion has been already made. A different task 
is here to be accomplished : it is not the storm 
of the physical elements which is to be resisted, 
but the poignant grief of the bereaved parent is 
to be assuaged ; and that, not by any nepenthe 
which may obliterate the memory of lost hap- 
piness; but by, I had almost said, the living 
image of the very objects themselves from which 

M 4 



168 ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 

that happiness arose, and in which it centred. 
Alone, and undistracted by the presence of sur- 
rounding friends, the widowed mother approaches 
in mournful silence the consecrated aisle ; where, 
softly clasped in each other's arms, she sees her 
beloved children resting in the repose of sleep 
rather than of death : and gazing on them with 
intense affection, she feels not sorrow for a while ; 
but, indulging in a dream which almost realizes 
her past happiness, would fold her treasures to 
her bosom, were she not too conscious that the 
cold embrace would dissipate the fond illusion. 

SECT. III. 

Gems and precious Stones, 

If it were the purpose of this treatise to point 
out the adaptation of external nature to the 
moral as well as to the physical condition of 
man, it might be easily shewn, that, however an 
undue degree of attention to outward ornaments 
is blamable, a moderate degree of attention is 
both allowable and right : otherwise, and it is 
an instance that outweighs all others, it would 
not have been observed in the decorations of the 
temple of Solomon, nor in the original ordina- 
tions respecting the dress of the Levitical priest- 
hood. Those substances consequently, which are 
capable of being applied to ornamental purposes, 
become, in our mode of using them, a test of 
virtue, in the same manner as our ordinary 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 169 

clothing, and food, and sleep ; all of which, 
though even necessary to our existence, may 
be abused by a luxurious indulgence in them. 
But at present I am no further concerned with 
the moral part of the question, than to infer 
that, if an attention to external ornament be not 
only allowable, but right, we may antecedently 
expect that materials for its exercise would be 
provided by nature : and that is indeed the 
fact a . 

It would be difficult however to determine 
which of the three kingdoms, the animal, ve- 
getable, or mineral, is the most prolific source 
of those beautiful forms and colours which are 
principally valued as objects of external orna- 
ment. We do not indeed observe in any flower 
that iridescent play of colours which characterises 
some varieties of the opal and felspar, among 
minerals ; and the plumage of certain birds, and 
the scales of certain fish, among animals : but 
in elegance and variety of form, and in splen- 
dour and simplicity of colour, the vegetable world 
will be found to yield neither to the animal nor 
mineral. Mineral substances, however, from 
their rarity as well as beauty, are more prized ; 
and from the durability of their substance are 
more permanently applicable to ornamental pur- 
poses than those either of animal or vegetable 

a "Wherefore did nature pour her bounties forth?" &c. 

Comus, line 726, &c. 



170 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



origin ; and therefore serve better to illustrate 
the principle of this treatise. 

From among those substances which in com- 
mercial language are called precious stones, 
though some so called are not really derived 
from the mineral kingdom, it is proposed to 
select the diamond as a preeminent example of 
the whole class ; because, in addition to those 
properties which render it valuable as an orna- 
mental gem, there are some points in its history 
which give it a peculiar worth. It will naturally 
excite the surprise of those, who are unac- 
quainted with the chemical history of this sub- 
stance, to learn that the purest diamond does 
not essentially differ from a particular variety of 
common coal ; or from that mineral of which 
drawing pencils are made, and which is usually, 
though not with propriety, called plumbago and 
black lead: and yet nothing has been more 
clearly proved than that equal weights of these 
several substances, if submitted to the process 
of combustion, will produce nearly equal pro- 
portions of carbonic acid gas ; which has al- 
ready been stated to be a chemical combination 
of definite proportions of carbon and oxygen ; 
the diamond, which is the purest form of carbon, 
burning away without leaving any residuum ; 
the other two leaving a very small proportion of 
ashes, in consequence of their containing foreign 
matter. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 171 

And here we can hardly fail to notice a very 
remarkable instance of what may be called the 
economical provisions of nature. How rarely, 
and in what small quantities, are the diamond 
and plumbago found ; and how abundantly does 
coal predominate in many parts of the world ! 
The Borrodale mine of plumbago in Cumber- 
land is the most considerable source of that sub- 
stance throughout Europe ; and the province of 
Golconda almost alone supplies the whole world 
with diamonds : and, probably, the accumu- 
lated weight of all the plumbago and of all the 
diamonds, which have ever been derived from 
those and other sources, would not equal a hun- 
dredth part of the weight of coal which is daily 
quarried in Great Britain. Suppose now that 
the case had been reversed ; and what would 
have been the consequence I diamond and plum- 
bago, though really combustible substances, yet 
from their slow combustibility could never have 
answered, in the place of coal, as a fuel for ge- 
neral purposes ; and, on the other hand, without 
that large supply of coal which nature has pro- 
vided, what would have become of the domestic 
comforts and commercial speculations of the 
greater part of Europe, during the two last cen- 
turies ? 

The value of the diamond is not derived solely 
from its transparency and lustre. Its remark- 
able hardness is another and a most useful pro- 



172 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



perty belonging to it : for, in consequence of its 
great degree of hardness, it is capable of cutting 
and polishing not only the hardest glass, but 
even the hardest gems : and if we consider how 
useful a substance glass is, how universally em- 
ployed as a means of at the same time admitting 
light and excluding the air from the interior of 
our houses ; but that in consequence of its hard- 
ness and brittleness it would with great diffi- 
culty be divided by any common mechanical 
instrument, so as accurately to fit the frames in 
which it is fixed for the above purposes, we at 
once see the value of a substance which easily 
and readily accomplishes that end. A small 
diamond no larger than a mustard seed, brought 
to a point and fixed in a convenient handle, en- 
ables the glazier to cut a plate of glass into 
pieces of any shape that he pleases: and the 
same instrument will serve his daily use for 
many successive years. Nor is it among the 
least of the glories of this gem, that it gave occa- 
sion to that remarkable conjecture of sir Isaac 
Newton respecting its chemical nature. That 
philosopher having observed, that the refractive 
power of transparent substances is in general 
proportional to their density ; but that, of sub- 
stances of equal density, those which are com- 
bustible possess the refractive power in a higher 
degree than those which are not, concluded from 
a comparison of the density and refractive power 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 173 

of the diamond, that it contained an inflam- 
mable principle ; which opinion was subsequent- 
ly confirmed by direct experiment. It will be 
remembered by the chemical reader that on the 
same ground he made the same conjecture with 
respect to water, and with the same success. 
And never, perhaps, did the eye of philosophy 
penetrate more unexpectedly the thick veil which 
is so often found to hide the real character of va- 
rious forms of matter : for, imperishable as from 
its name the adamant was supposed to be, who 
would have antecedently expected that it might 
be dissipated into air by the process of combus- 
tion? and, with respect to the other subject of 
his conjecture, if any principle was opposed to 
combustibility in the opinion of mankind it was 
water — " Aquae contrarius ignis." 

SECT. IV. 

The Distribution and relative Propoi'tions of Sea and 
Land; and the geological Arrangement and physical 
Character of 'some of the superficial Strata of the Earth. 
As it is clearly a just object of the present 
treatise to select the most familiar and most 
obvious instances of the principle intended to 
be illustrated, I shall in entering upon the ab- 
struse department of geology, consider only those 
phenomena which offer themselves to the eye in 
every part of the world ; and which are either 
at once intelligible, or easily demonstrable, to 
the commonest observer. 



174 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



Of such phenomena the most prominent are 
the general distribution of the sea and the land ; 
and the relative proportions of their superficial 
extent. With reference to the sea, although we 
may never know all the ends which are answer- 
ed by its saltness, and why its depth should be 
greater in some parts than others ; and although 
we can perhaps form no more than a conjecture 
as to the advantages derivable from the tides ; (the 
prevention, for instance, of a stagnant state of 
the water ;) or from the accumulation of ice near 
the poles ; (the cooling, probably, of the general 
mass of the atmosphere, and the consequent 
production of currents of air;) yet of its mode of 
distribution, and of the relative extent of its sur- 
face, we readily apprehend the reason ; simply 
in considering that all those forms of water which 
contribute to the fertilization of the earth, or 
the support of animal life, are derived from the 
ocean. Were the superficial extent of this there- 
fore much less than it is, the quantity evapo- 
rated would not be sufficient for the intended 
purposes ; or, Were the distribution different from 
what it is, were the sea, for nistance, to oc- 
cupy one hemisphere and the land the other, the 
water evaporated would not be so equally dif- 
fused through the atmosphere as it is at present. 

And, with respect to the land, how beautifully 
does the particular arrangement and character 
of its surface conspire with its general distribu- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 175 

tion, to equalize the diffusion of the water that 

is discharged upon it from the atmosphere! The 

truth of the proposition contained in those lines, 

" Rusticus expectat dum defluat arrmis, at ille 
" Labitur, et Jabetur in orane volubilis aevum/" 

depends on the nature of the particular arrange- 
ment and character, to which allusion has just 
been made. On the one hand, the general sur- 
face of the land ascending from the sea on all 
sides towards some central ridge or district, 
called the watershed of the country, all the rain 
that does not sink beneath the surface is accu- 
mulated into rivers ; which naturally descend 
towards, and ultimately reach, the sea : and, on 
the other hand, the superficial strata being in 
general incapable of immediately absorbing the 
rain which falls upon them, the descent of the 
water is the necessary result of the inclination of 
the surface. But if, from partial causes, such 
an inclination of the land is either wanting, or 
the course of rivers is impeded by the unre- 
pressed growth of reeds and sedge, the adjoin- 
ing district is overflowed, and at length con- 
verted into a stagnant marsh. It is from such a 
physical cause, that, at this moment, the ancient 
site of Babylon attests the truth of prophecy; 
being still, as it has been for ages, " a possession 
" for the bittern, and pools of water." 

But that which is called the watershed of any 
large tract of land is not simply the most ele- 



176 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



vated portion of the whole surface: it consists 
also, in a greater or less degree, of ranges of moun- 
tains ; down the highly inclined sides of which the 
rain immediately descends in numerous torrents, 
which by their gradual accumulation produce 
rivers. And, as best calculated to secure the per- 
manent effect, the substance of these mountains 
is in general so hard, and impermeable to water, 
that, with reference to the present system of the 
earth, they may justly be characterised by the 
epithet " everlasting." But if, instead of being thus 
durable, they were of a soft or friable substance, 
they would soon cease to exist as mountains; 
and if they were porous, instead of compact, 
they would absorb much of that rain which now 
contributes to the formation of rivers. 

From that portion of the rain which, in com- 
paratively flat districts, sinks beneath the sur- 
face of the earth, reservoirs of water are formed : 
from which, either spontaneous springs arise, or 
into which, artificial excavations called wells 
are sunk : and of the utility of such reservoirs, 
those beds of gravel which occur in every part 
of the world afford upon the whole the best il- 
lustration. 

SECT. V. 
Beds of Gravel. 
Few subjects would at the first view appear 
more barren of interest than a bed of gravel ; 
consisting, as it usually does, of nothing but 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 177 

fragments of broken pebbles and sand, heaped 
together in apparently inextricable confusion. 
Yet such beds, dispersed as they are very gene- 
rally over the surface of the regular strata, ad- 
minister materially to the wants of man ; in af- 
fording him the means of supplying himself rea- 
dily with that important necessary of life, water. 

From the irregularity in the form and size of 
the component parts of gravel, and from the 
slight degree of cohesion by which they are 
united, the whole mass is necessarily porous : 
and hence, readily transmitting the rain which 
falls on its surface, becomes charged with water 
to an extent proportional to the quantity of rain 
which has penetrated it; being enabled to retain 
the water thus accumulated, in consequence of 
its resting on some substratum, as clay, which is 
impermeable to water : so that, if an excavation 
sufficiently deep be made into any part of the 
gravel, the water immediately drains into this 
excavation, and rises at length to the level of 
the general mass of water contained in the whole 
bed ; by which easy process, in such instances 
at least, those reservoirs, called wells, are form- 
ed : and these reservoirs are never exhausted, 
so long as the whole bed of gravel retains any 
considerable proportion of water. A very ready 
illustration of this fact is afforded by the fami- 
liar instance of those excavations which children 
are accustomed to make in the sand of the sea- 

N 



178 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



beach, while yet charged with moisture during 
the ebbing of the tide. 

The inhabitants of a town which, like Oxford, 
is built partly on a comparatively shallow bed 
of gravel, and partly on a deep stratum of clay, 
can well appreciate the value of the former sub- 
stratum of their habitations, with reference to 
the facility of procuring water : for while they, 
whose dwellings are built on the gravel, can 
readily obtain water by sinking a well immedi- 
ately on the spot ; they whose dwellings are on 
the clay, must either procure water from a dis- 
tance, or incur a very serious, and, finally per- 
haps, useless expense, in attempting to pene- 
trate the clay b . With respect to its general uses, 
gravel seems only to be employed in the repair- 
ing of roads and walks; in the composition of 
some kinds of mortar; and as a convenient oc- 
casional ballast for sailing vessels : so that, if we 
confine our view to the means afforded by gravel 
beds of supplying the ordinary wants of man, 
their history may be comprised in a few words. 
Not so, if we view them with reference to their 
origin, and the nature of their occasional con- 

b From the observation of an analogous arrangement in the 
general strata of the earth, namely, that those which are per- 
vious to water alternate with those which are impervious to 
water, Mr. William Smith, " the father of English geology," 
became acquainted with the origin of springs, and the true prin- 
ciples of draining. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 179 

tents : and little dreams any one, save the pro- 
fessed geologist, what a mine lies hid, in those 
confused heaps of ruin, for the exercise of man's 
intellectual faculties. Few subjects indeed have 
afforded ampler scope for philosophical reflec- 
tion. In proof of which, I need do no more than 
refer to the labours and ingenuity of Cuvier on the 
continent, and of Professor Buckland in our own 
country : of whom the one, by a scientific exa- 
mination of the organic remains of gravel beds, 
in addition to those of some of the regular strata, 
has brought to light not only numerous indivi- 
dual species, but whole families of animals, 
which have ceased to exist ages and ages since : 
and the other, with no less labour and ingenuity, 
has all but exhibited some of these animals to 
our view in the very act of devouring and digest- 
ing their food. 

How often, and with what intense interest, has 
not the scientific geologist perused the original 
essays of Cuvier ; in which, setting out from the 
casual observation of a simple fragment of a fos- 
sil bone belonging to some extinct species, he 
has established not only the class and order, but 
even the size and proportions of the individual 
to which it belonged, and the general nature of 
its food. And how often, in addition to professed 
geologists, lias not an attentive audience of aca- 
demical students listened with admiration to the 
clear and vivid eloquence of the oilier of those 

N '1 



180 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



philosophers, the Geological Professor of Oxford, 
while he unfolded that beautiful chain of facts 
by which he traced his antediluvian animals to 
their native caves ; and exposed to view, to the 
mental eye at least, and almost to the corporeal, 
their particular habits, and even the relics of 
their last meal. And, lest there should be any 
doubt as to the nature of this meal, he discover- 
ed, by a most philosophical, for I will not say 
fortunate conjecture, unequivocal proofs of the 
actual remains of it ; not only in its original, but 
also in its digested state. I here allude particu- 
larly to his verification of the masses of digested 
bone which he has most satisfactorily shewn to 
have passed through the whole tract of the di- 
gestive organs of his favourite hyenas ; and which 
are so nearly identical, in every character, with 
the similar masses that daily traverse the same 
organs of the living species, as to make it diffi- 
cult even for an experienced eye to ascertain the 
difference between them. 

It is natural that I should feel a pleasure in 
recording the well-earned fame of a friend with 
whom I have lived in habits of intimacy for more 
than twenty years ; and whom, in the commence- 
ment of his career, I had the good fortune to lead 
into that avenue of science, on which he has sub- 
sequently thrown more light than perhaps any 
other English geologist ; with the exception in- 
deed of one, the reverend W. Conybeare, the ad- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 181 

miration of whose comprehensive and command- 
ing views, as well in fossil as in general geology, 
is not confined to his own countrymen ; the 
members of the French Institute having attested 
their sense of his preeminent talents by the high 
honour of selecting him, a few years since, as 
one of their foreign associates — an honour par- 
ticularly distinguished by the uncommon cir- 
cumstance, that it was not only unsolicited, but 
unexpected, by himself. 

On one point, however, of professor Buckland's 
general theory of the organic remains met with 
in gravel beds, and in certain natural caverns, 
I not only differ from him, but think it right to 
express the ground of that difference. Dr. Buck- 
land's arguments in favour of his opinion that 
the animals of the gravel beds, and the caverns, 
habitually frequented the spots where these re- 
mains are found, are not only ingenious, but are 
occasionally supported by facts which almost 
necessarily lead to that conclusion : and it is not 
intended to attempt to invalidate them. They 
do not indeed stand in the way of the objection 
now to be advanced ; this objection being ap- 
plicable to that part of the theory only which 
considers the destruction of these animals as the 
effect of the Mosaic deluge. Nor is the objec- 
tion, in its origin, so much directed against the 
insulated supposition that these organic remains 
are immediate proofs of the Mosaic deluge; as 



182 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



against the principle of supporting the credibility 
of the sacred Scriptures on any unascertained 
interpretation of physical phenomena. Such a 
support appears to be imprudent, as well as un- 
necessary : unnecessary, because the moral evi- 
dence of the credibility of the Scriptures is of it- 
self fully sufficient ; imprudent, because we have 
the strong ground of antecedent analogy, not 
only in another but in this very branch of know- 
ledge, for anticipating a period in the progress 
of science, when particular phenomena may be 
interpreted in a very different manner from that 
in which they are interpreted at present. Thus 
the explanation of the motions of our solar sys- 
tem, which is now admitted very generally, with- 
out any fear of weakening the authority of Scrip- 
ture, was once as generally impugned on the 
principle of that very fear. Time was also, and 
indeed within the last century, when the shells 
and other organic remains, which are imbedded 
in the chalk and other solid strata, were con- 
sidered to be the remains and proofs of the Mo- 
saic deluge ; and yet at the present day, without 
any fear of injuring the credibility of the Scrip- 
tures, they are admitted very generally to have 
been deposited anteriorly to the Mosaic deluge. 
And who will venture to say, in the infancy of 
a science like geology, that the same change of 
opinion may not happen with respect to the or- 
ganic remains of the gravel beds and caverns. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 183 

Nor indeed do I think, and I expressed this 
opinion nearly twenty years since, that the or- 
ganic remains of the gravel beds and the caverns 
can be, on even mere philosophical grounds, ad- 
duced as physical proofs of the Mosaic deluge. 
For as according to the Mosaic record it was the 
intention of the Deity on that occasion, in the 
midst of a very general destruction of individuals 
to preserve species, we should in reason expect, 
among the organic remains of that catastrophe, 
a preponderance, at least, of the remains of ex- 
isting species : since, although some species may 
have been lost subsequently to the deluge, these 
naturally would be comparatively few. But the 
fact is just the reverse ; for by far the greater 
number of the organic remains of the gravel, as 
of the caverns, belong to species not known now 
to exist. And with respect to those remains 
which appear capable of being identified with 
living species, Cuvier allows that they belong to 
orders of animals, the species of which often dif- 
fer only in colour, or in other points of what may 
be called their external or superficial anatomy ; 
and cannot therefore be satisfactorily identified 
by the remains of their bones alone. 

I do not consider it right to enter into a more 
extended examination of the question on the 
present occasion : but, could it be proved that 
visible traces of the Mosaic deluge must neces- 
sarily exist, arguments might be adduced to 

N 4 



184 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



shew both where those traces ought to be ex- 
pected, and that they do actually exist. But 
the deluge itself was evidently a miracle, or an 
interference with the laws which usually regu- 
late the operation of second causes : and who- 
ever admits the force of the reasoning, contained 
in Butler's Analogy of Natural and Revealed 
Religion, will be disposed to allow that the visi- 
ble evidence of the catastrophe may have been 
purposely obscured, in order to exercise our faith 
in an exclusive belief of the moral evidence. 

I would not lay undue weight on the negative 
proof arising from the absence of human re- 
mains, although they have been in vain searched 
for, even in parts of the world to which it may 
fairly be presumed that the human race had 
penetrated at the period of the Mosaic deluge : 
but undoubtedly such a negative proof is not 
without considerable weight ; especially when 
taken in connexion with the theory of a conti- 
nental geologist, M. de Beaumont, of whose 
powers of philosophical generalization Professor 
Sedgwick speaks in language the most expres- 
sive. " I am using," he says, " no terms of 
44 exaggeration, when I say that, in reading the 
44 admirable researches of M. de Beaumont, I 
44 appeared to myself, page after page, to be 
44 acquiring a new geological sense, and a new 
44 faculty of induction ." 

c See Prof Sedgwick's address to the Geolog. Society, 1831, p. 29. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 185 

After having taken a general survey of M. de 
Beaumont's observations and views, Mr. Sedg- 
wick alludes to an opinion which he himself had 
expressed in the preceding year, that what is 
commonly called diluvial gravel is probably not 
the result of one but of many successive periods. 
" But what I then stated,' 1 he adds, " as a pro- 
" bable opinion, may, after the essays of M. de 
" Beaumont, be now advanced with all the au- 
" thority of established truth — we now connect 
" the gravel of the plains with the elevation of 
" the nearest system of mountains ; we believe 
" that the Scandinavian boulders in the north of 
" Germany are of an older date than the dilu- 
44 vium of the Danube : and we can prove that 
44 the great erratic blocks, derived from the 
" granite of Mont Blanc, are of a more recent 
" origin than the old gravel in the tributary 
44 valleys of the Rhone. That these statements 
" militate against opinions, but a few years since 
44 held almost universally among us, cannot be 
44 denied. But, in retreating when we have ad- 
" vanced too far, there is neither compromise of 
44 dignity, nor loss of strength ; for in doing this, 
44 we partake but of the common fortune of 
44 every one who enters on a field of investiga- 
44 tion like our own. All the noble generaliza- 
44 tions of Cuvier, and all the beautiful disco- 
44 veries of Buckland, as far as they are the 
44 results of fair induction, will ever remain un- 



186 ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



" shaken by the progress of discovery. It is only 
" to theoretical opinions that my remarks have 
" any application" (p. 33). 

Mr. Sedgwick then proceeds to argue that 
different gravel beds having been formed at dif- 
ferent periods, it may happen from the nature 
of diluvial action, that mixtures of the materials 
of different beds may occur ; and consequently 
that " in the very same deposit we may find 
" the remains of animals which have lived dur- 
" ing different epochs in the history of the earth" 
(p. 33). 

He then shews how, from the double testi- 
mony of the widely existing traces of diluvial 
action, and the record of a general deluge con- 
tained in the sacred Scriptures, the opinion was 
naturally formed that all those traces were re- 
ferable to one and the same action : though we 
ought in philosophical caution to have hesitated 
in adopting that opinion, because ' ' among the 
" remnants of a former world, entombed in these 
" ancient deposits, we have not yet found a 
N single trace of man, or of the works of his 
" hands" (p. 34). Lastly, he strenuously denies 
that the facts of geological science are opposed 
to the sacred records, or to the reality of an his- 
toric deluge ; and for himself, utterly rejects such 
an inference : and argues justly, that there is an 
accordance between the absence of human re- 
mains in these diluvial beds of gravel, and the 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 187 

supposed antiquity of their formation, inasmuch 
as the phenomena of geology, and the testimony 
of both sacred and profane history, " tell us in 
" a language easily understood, though written 
" in far different characters, that man is a re- 
" cent sojourner on the surface of the earth' 5 
(p. 35). 

SECT. VI. 
Metals. 

The atmosphere, and the vegetable, and ani- 
mal kingdoms, being three out of the four gene- 
ral departments of the external world, are most 
extensively necessary to the welfare, if not to 
the very existence, of every individual : but even 
communities of men, in an uncivilized state in- 
deed, have existed, and in some parts of the 
earth are still existing, without any further aid 
from the mineral kingdom than that, which 
the common soil affords to the growth of the 
food which supports them. But a civilized state 
of society is the natural destination of man ; 
and such a state of society is incapable of aris- 
ing or being maintained, without the aid of 
mineral substances : and this assertion holds 
more particularly with respect to the metallic 
species. 

In that department of civilized intercourse 
which consists in the exchange of the com- 
modities of life, what other substance could be an 
equivalent substitute for gold and silver, or even 



188 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



copper, as a medium of that exchange? In what 
constant use, and of what immense importance, 
are some of the commonest metals in agriculture, 
and in the arts ; or for the various purposes of 
domestic life ! Nor have any substances more 
successfully exercised the powers of the mind, 
in the discovery or improvement of physical 
truths ; or more largely contributed to the bene- 
fit of mankind by the practical application of 
those truths. We owe it to the researches of 
philosophy, not only that new and highly valu- 
able metals have been discovered ; but that the 
general value of the metals previously known, 
has been advanced by extended and improved 
applications of their inherent properties, or by 
the invention of new metallic combinations or 
alloys. 

If a convincing and familiar proof of the ex- 
tensive application of the metals to the common 
purposes of life were required, we need only 
refer to the case of many a common cottager, 
who could not carry on his daily concerns and 
occupations without the assistance of several of 
the metals. He could not, for instance, make his 
larger purchases, nor pay his rent, without sil- 
ver, gold, and copper. Without iron he could nei- 
ther dig, nor plough, nor reap ; and, with respect 
to his habitation, there is scarcely a part of the 
structure itself, or of the furniture contained in 
it, which is not held together, to a greater or less 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 189 

extent, by means of the same metal : and many 
articles are either entirely of iron, or of iron 
partially and superficially coated with tin. Zinc, 
and copper, and antimony, and lead, and tin, 
are component parts of his pewter and brazen 
utensils. Quicksilver is a main ingredient in 
the metallic coating of his humble mirror : co- 
balt and platina, and metals perhaps more rare 
and costly than these, as chrome, are employed 
in the glazing of his drinking cups and jugs. 
And if he be the possessor of a fowling-piece, 
which commonly he would be, arsenic must be 
added to the foregoing list, as an ingredient in 
the shot with which he charges it ; for it is ar- 
senic which enables the shot, during the process 
of its granulation, to acquire that delicately sphe- 
rical form by which it is characterised. So that 
the whole number of metals made use of by so- 
ciety at large for common purposes, amounting 
to less than twenty, more than half of these are 
either directly used by the mere peasant, or enter 
into the composition of the furniture and imple- 
ments employed by him. 

In estimating the value of those mineral sub- 
stances which were considered in the preceding 
chapter, as applicable to the common purposes 
of life, their degree of hardness is the property 
of principal consideration : but, in addition to 
this, metallic bodies possess some peculiar pro- 
perties which very greatly increase their value. 



190 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



Thus, under a force acting perpendicularly on 
their surface, as under repeated blows of the 
hammer, or compression by rollers, many of 
them are capable of being expanded to a greater 
or less extent ; some of them to such an extent 
as to become thinner than the thinnest paper ; 
which property in its various degrees is express- 
ed by the term malleability: others, though not 
possessing any great degree of malleability, may 
be drawn out into a wire, sometimes so fine as 
scarcely to be visible by the naked eye ; which 
property is expressed by the term ductility. All 
of them are capable of being expanded or con- 
tracted in every direction by an increase or de- 
crease of their temperature ; the degree of this 
expansibility, as of its opposite effect, depending 
on the degree of the temperature. And lastly, 
in connexion with certain points of tempera- 
ture, all the metals are capable of existing either 
in a solid or in a liquid state : and their pro- 
perty of passing from a solid to a liquid state, 
in consequence of the agency of heat, is called 
their fusibility. 

Into the detail of the different degrees in 
which these properties are possessed by differ- 
ent metals, it belongs to the chemist to enter. 
What we have at present to consider is, the ad- 
vantage accruing to society from these proper- 
ties themselves, and from their existence in that 
particular degree in which they actually do ex- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 191 

ist in the different metals : to shew, for instance, 
that those metals which possess malleability in 
a greater ratio than ductility, or ductility in a 
greater ratio than malleability, are of infinitely 
greater value than if the converse were true : 
and so with respect to the property of fusibility. 
Thus gold, being comparatively scarce, and prin- 
cipally valuable on account of its colour, its re- 
splendency, and its remarkable power of resist- 
ing the action of the air, and of various agents 
which readily tarnish or rust the more common 
metals, (all which properties reside on the mere 
surface,) a given quantity of such a metal is 
consequently more valuable in proportion to the 
degree of its malleability ; because it may be 
extended over a greater surface : and no metal 
possesses this property in so high a degree as 
gold ; so that, as far as the eye is the judge, the 
most ordinary substance may be made to repre- 
sent the most costly, at a comparatively trifling 
expense : while in the degree of its ductility, 
which in gold would be, for general purposes, 
of little moment, it is inferior to most of the 
metals . 

c It should be kept in mind that this observation is applied to 
unalloyed or pure gold ; for, when alloyed, this metal is capable 
of being drawn out into a comparatively fine wire. Dr. Wollas- 
ton indeed suggested a method of drawing out even pure gold 
into an exceedingly fine wire, by enclosing it in a mass of a highly 
ductile metal, drawing out the mixed metal into fine wire, and 
disengaging the gold from the metal in which it was enclosed, by 



192 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



Iron, again, is malleable to a degree which 
renders it most valuable as a material for fabri- 
cating all kinds of instruments for mechanical, 
domestic, or philosophical purposes ; and it is 
capable of being hardened by well known pro- 
cesses sufficiently for the numerous and import- 
ant works of the carpenter and mason, and the 
equally important purposes of war. agriculture, 
and the arts. A greater decree of malleability, 
in a metal employed for such purposes as those 
for which iron is usually employed, especially 
as this metal is very easily corroded by rust, 
would clearly have added nothing to its prac- 
tical value : while its degree of ductility, which 
exceeds that of every other metal, combined 
with its capability of being hardened in various 
degrees, occasionally confers a value on it greatly 
superior to that of gold. 

From the difference in the decree of fusibi- 
lity of different metals, aided by the disposition 
which they have to unite so as to form an alloy, 
arises the possibility of covering one metal in a 
solid state with a superficial coating of another 
metal in a state of fusion. I am not aware that 
this method is employed, at least to any extent, in 
any other instances, than in the application of 
tin to the surface of copper or of iron : but, were 
there an hundred similar instances, they would 

any acid which would dissolve the latter without affecting the 
gold itself. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 193 

not lessen the value of this, as affording an illus- 
tration of that principle which has been borne 
in mind throughout this treatise. Consider only 
the respective degree of abundance of each of 
the three metals just mentioned, and the differ- 
ence in some of their qualities with respect to 
external agents, and we shall have ample reason 
for being assured that, on this as on every other 
occasion, we may say of the Creator of material 
things — " In wisdom hast Thou made them all." 
And not only is it true that 

" The world by difference is in order found 

but the difference is so adjusted in every in- 
stance, that, if it were varied, the value of the 
substances in which the difference is observable 
would be destroyed. Thus, of the three metals 
now under consideration, iron and copper, from 
the degree of their malleability, are easily formed 
into those various vessels which are of daily use 
for culinary and other purposes ; while tin pos- 
sesses the property of malleability in compara- 
tively a slight degree : and, correspondently with 
the extent of their use, iron and copper are 
found in great abundance and in almost every 
part of the world ; while tin is of very rare occur- 
rence. Again, the two former metals are easily 
rusted ; and, from the poisonous quality of the 
rust of copper, fatal effects on human health and 
life would be frequently occurring, used so ex- 
tensively as that metal is for the construction of 

o 



194 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



vessels in which our food is prepared, were it not 
defended by that superficial coating of tin,whichis 
commonly applied to the inner surface of such ves- 
sels ; tin being neither easily rusted, nor capable 
of communicating any poisonous quality to sub- 
stances brought into contact with it. Let us then 
suppose that the respective degree of malleability, 
or of fusibility, were reversed in these metals ; 
and observe the inconvenience that would ensue. 
Let the tin have that degree of malleability, for 
instance, which would render it capable of sup- 
plying the place of the iron, or the copper, in the 
construction of various economical vessels and 
instruments ; yet, from the small quantity in 
which it occurs in the world, the supply of it 
would soon be either exhausted, or its price would 
be so enhanced that it could not be purchased ex- 
cept by the rich. And, even if the supply were 
inexhaustible, yet, from the softness of the metal, 
the vessels made of it would be comparatively of 
little use ; and from the low temperature at which 
it melts, it could not be readily used for the ge- 
nerality of those purposes to which copper and 
iron are commonly applied. On the other hand, 
let the copper or the iron be as fusible as tin; 
and let the tin be as refractory under the action 
of heat as iron and copper are : in that case, how 
could the tin be applied with any degree of eco- 
nomy to the surface of either of the other two ; 
while they themselves would be unfit, from their 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 195 

easy fusibility, to withstand that degree of heat 
to which they are necessarily exposed in many of 
the economical uses to which they are applied ? 

There remains to be considered one property 
of metals with respect to their fusibility, which 
is of the highest practical importance ; for on 
this property depends the possibility of uniting 
together portions of the same, or of different 
metals, without fusion of the metals themselves. 
If two metals be melted into one uniform mass, 
the compound is called an alloy ; and in the 
greater number of instances, if not in all, the 
alloy is more readily fusible than either of the 
component metals : and hence it easily becomes 
a bond of union between the two metals, or dif- 
ferent portions of either of them. Such an al- 
loy, when so employed, is called a solder. In 
considering the present subject, we cannot over- 
look a remarkable analogy between metallic sub- 
stances and building stones, with reference to 
one mode in which they may respectively be 
united to each other, so as to form one solid 
mass ; mortar being to stones what solder is to 
metals. Thus, in uniting two metallic surfaces by 
means of solder, it is requisite that the latter 
should be in a fluid state, or melted ; and, in 
uniting the surfaces of two bricks or stones by 
means of mortar, the latter must be, if not in ab- 
solutely a fluid, yet in a soft and yielding state : 
and the final hardening of each is the efficient 

o 2 



196 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



cause of permanent union. The period indeed 
requisite for the due consolidation of the uniting 
medium is very different; the solder becoming 
fixed in a few seconds, the mortar requiring some 
hours, perhaps days, for its consolidation : but, 
in the end proposed, there is no essential differ- 
ence; for the mortar, if originally tempered well, 
and well applied, as firmly unites the stones, as 
solder the metals : so that mortar might be called 
a slowly acting solder ; and solder, an extempo- 
raneous or quickly acting mortar. 

It would appear a paradox, if not an ab- 
surdity, to affirm abruptly that a liability to 
rapid decay is among the most important pro- 
perties of any substance in general use : and 
yet this may be truly affirmed of iron. For 
though, in one sense, its liability to rust dimi- 
nishes the value of this useful metal, because it 
is consequently almost impossible to preserve it 
very long in an entire state ; yet, indirectly, this 
property, though detrimental to individuals, is 
beneficial to the community : for, in the first 
place, the presence of iron ore is so genera], 
and its quantity so abundant, that there is no 
probability of any failure in its supply : and, in 
the next place, numerous branches of trade are 
kept in continued employ, both in working the 
ore, and in meeting the constantly renewed de- 
mand for implements made of iron, owing to the 
rapid corrosion of this metal. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 197 

Among the metals there is one, the history of 
which ought not to be overlooked on the pre- 
sent occasion, from the very circumstance that 
its value in a great measure depends on the ab- 
sence of most of those properties which render 
all other metals valuable. Quicksilver is the 
metal in question : and what an anomaly does 
it not present in the general history of metals ; 
existing, under all common variations of tem- 
perature, in a fluid state, while all other metals, 
with which we are familiar, are, under the same 
variations, solid ; nor indeed are they capable 
of becoming fluid, but by an elevation of tem- 
perature to which they are hardly liable to be 
exposed, unless designedly : lastly, in conse- 
quence of its fluidity, destitute of malleability 
and ductility ; which are among the most valu- 
able properties of the metals taken collectively? 
This state of fluidity, however, is the very point 
on which the value of this metal in a great mea- 
sure turns : for hence it is successfully employed 
for many purposes, to which, were it solid, it 
would be inapplicable. How valuable is its use 
in the construction of the common thermometer 
and barometer ; the value, in the case of the 
former instrument, depending entirely on its 
fluidity, and on the physical characters of the 
fluid itself — the equable ratio, for instance, of 
its contraction and expansion under widely va- 
rying degrees of temperature ; and its property 

o 3 



198 



ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



of remaining fluid through a greater range of 
temperature than any other known substance d . 
And, in the case of the barometer, what fluid is 
there which could supply the place of quick- 
silver, with any degree of convenience? since, 
from the great specific gravity of this metal, a 
column of the perpendicular height of about 
thirty inches, sufficiently answers the intended 
purpose ; which column in the case of almost 
every other fluid, would amount to as many 
feet. And as, in such a case, the column must 
necessarily be contained in a glass tube, in order 
to make the alterations in its height visible, how 
would it be possible to render such an instru- 
ment portable ? and yet, if not portable, it would 
often be of no use when most wanted. 

In those numerous philosophical experiments 
in which it is requisite to insulate portions of 
various gaseous substances, for the purpose of 
examining their properties, how could the ex- 
perimentalist proceed without the use of the 
metal now under consideration ; which by its 
fluidity readily yields its place to the various 
kinds of gas which are to be transferred to ves- 
sels previously filled with the quicksilver ; and, 

d Quicksilver does not become solid till exposed to a tem- 
perature about seventy degrees below the freezing point in the 
scale of Fahrenheit ; nor does it pass rapidly into a state of va- 
pour till exposed to a temperature equal to nearly three hun- 
dred and seventy degrees above the boiling point of water, on 
the same scale. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 199 

having no chemical affinity for the greater num- 
ber of gaseous substances, is calculated to retain 
them in an insulated and unaltered state for 
an indefinite length of time? nor let us forget to 
observe, how the properties of the metal, which 
is necessarily in contact with the gaseous sub- 
stances in question, conspire with the properties 
of the glass vessels containing those gaseous sub- 
stances, to facilitate the observations of the phi- 
losopher: for, if the glass were not both a trans- 
parent body, and equally devoid as the quicksil- 
ver of any chemical affinity for the gas contained 
in it, the metal itself would be of little use for the 
purpose intended ; since we are not acquainted 
with any other substance that could supply the 
place of glass — with the exception perhaps of 
rock crystal ; which however could only be pro- 
cured in small quantity any where, and could 
not be worked into a convenient form but at a 
most enormous expense. 

SECT. VII. 
Coinmon Salt, fyc. 
It does not appear that the mineral kingdom 
contains a single species capable of being em- 
ployed as food : but there is one mineral species, 
which indirectly contributes to the nourishment 
of many other animals as well as man ; and that 
is common salt: the flavour of which, to a cer- 
tain extent, is not only grateful to the palate. 

o 4 



200 ADAPTATION OF MINERALS 



but, practically speaking, mankind could not 
exist, or at least never have existed, without the 
constant use of it. Thus, though employed in 
very small quantities at a time by any indi- 
vidual, and almost exclusively for the purpose 
either of preserving or of rendering his food 
more palatable, this substance may fairly be 
classed among the principal necessaries of life : 
and, correspondently with this statement, we 
find that nature has supplied it in abundance, 
indeed in profusion often, in various parts of 
the globe : for, to say nothing of those appa- 
rently inexhaustible masses which occur among 
the solid strata of the earth, and which have 
been constantly quarried through successive 
ages from the earliest records of history, the 
ocean itself is a never-failing source of this 
valuable substance. In other instances salt 
springs afford the means of a ready supply : 
and, throughout a considerable part of the sandy 
districts of Africa and Asia, the soil itself abounds 
with it e . The abundant supply of common salt 

e It does not belong to our present purpose to describe the 
common processes by which the salt is obtained either from the 
sea, or from any other liquid that may hold it in solution : but 
the following account of a particular process, for this purpose, 
so well illustrates the ingenuity of the human mind in taking 
advantage of natural hints, if the expression may be permitted, 
that no excuse can be necessary for its introduction. In Guiana 
there is a very common species of palm, the flowers of which are 
enveloped by a sheath capable of holding many pints of water ; 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 201 



coincides with its extensive utility. It is every 
where indispensable to the comforts of man ; 
and it is every where found, or easily obtained 
by him. And, though not to the same extent, 
the same observation holds with reference to 
many other natural saline compounds. Thus 
carbonate of potash, and natron or carbonate of 
soda, alum, borax, sal ammoniac, and sulphate 
of iron, or green vitriol, which are most exten- 
sively useful salts in many processes of the arts, 
are either found abundantly in various parts 
of the world, or may be obtained by very easy 
means : while a thousand other saline compounds, 
which are rarely of any practical importance, 
are scarcely known to exist in a native state. 
And it is probable that that useful metal, copper, 
in consequence of its frequent occurrence in a 
native state, was employed long before the mode 
of reducing iron from its ores had been disco- 
vered ; as Werner (and Hesiod, and Lucretius, 
ages before him f ) conjectured. 

and the density and general nature of the sheath is such, that 
the water contained in it may be heated over a fire without de- 
stroying its substance : and the Caraibs actually employ these 
sheaths, in evaporating the sea-water for the purpose of obtain- 
ing a quick supply of salt. ( Diction, des Sciences Nat. torn, xxxvii. 
p. 283, 4.) 

' XaXxoi §' ipyd^ovro, pekas 8' ovk eoTce o-ldrjpos. 

EPr. KAI HM. line 151. 
Posterius Ferri vis est, iErisque reperta. 
Et prior TEris erat quam Ferri cognitus usus. 

Luc ret. V. 1285. 



202 



ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



CHAP. VIII. 

Adaptation of Vegetables to the Physical 
Condition of Man. 

SECT. I. 

General Observations on the Vegetable Kingdom. 

THE vegetable kingdom has this distinction 
with reference to the subject of the present trea- 
tise, that its productions are among the first ob- 
jects that forcibly attract the attention of young 
children ; becoming to them the source of grati- 
fications, which are among the purest of which 
our nature is capable ; and of which even the in- 
distinct recollection imparts often a fleeting plea- 
sure to the most cheerless moments of after-life. 

Who does not look back with feelings, which 
he would in vain attempt to describe, to the de- 
lightful rambles which his native fields and mea- 
dows afforded to his earliest years? Who does 
not remember, or at least fancy that he remem- 
bers, the eager activity with which he was used 
to strip nature's carpet of its embroidery, nor 
ceased to cull the scattered blossoms till his in- 
fant hands were incapable of retaining the ac- 
cumulated heap ? Who, on even seeing the first 
violet of returning spring, much more on inhal- 
ing its sweetness ; or in catching the breeze that 
has passed over the blossom of the bean or of 
the woodbine, does not again enjoy the very de- 
lights of his early childhood ? 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 203 



It may be said indeed that the pleasure of 
such recollections is for the most part of a moral 
and intellectual nature ; and, so far, is foreign 
to our present obj ect : but the pleasure of the 
original enjoyment appears to be principally of a 
physical character ; and is no doubt intended to 
produce, at the moment, a highly beneficial, 
though merely physical effect : for while the 
eye of the child is attracted by the unexpected 
forms and colours of the plants and flowers pre- 
sented to his view, and his mind is instigated to 
gratify the eager desire of possessing them, he 
necessarily subjects his limbs to that degree of 
exercise and fatigue, which contributes to the 
general health of his body. Nor let such plea- 
sures be undervalued in their consequence : they 
give that moderate stimulus to the whole sys- 
tem, which even the early age of infancy re- 
quires ; and, by shutting out the listlessness 
that would arise from inactivity, they become 
eventually the source of moral and intellectual 
improvement. 

With reference to the primary wants of man- 
kind at large, the vegetable kingdom is of the 
highest importance. Let the earth cease to pro- 
duce its accustomed fruits, and every form of 
animal life must be soon annihilated : for all 
animals either derive their nourishment directly 
from vegetable food, or feed on those animals 
which have themselves fed on vegetables. And, 



204 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 

without the aid of the same productions, we 
should be deprived of various substances which 
are now employed for clothing, and fuel, and 
the construction of our habitations. But the 
adaptation of the vegetable kingdom to the arts 
and conveniences of life is visible in numerous 
other instances : and the principal difficulty, in 
illustrating this point, is the selection of ap- 
propriate examples, and the order of their ar- 
rangement. 

SECT. II. 

The Cocoa-nut Tree, including the formation of Coral Reefs. 

For the purpose of introducing in a more par- 
ticular manner the general subject of this chap- 
ter, and as an impressive example of the im- 
portant ends which nature often accomplishes 
by the simplest means, I propose to consider 
the mode in which the cocoa-nut tree is sponta- 
neously propagated in the coral islands of the 
Indian Archipelago and elsewhere : nor will it be 
an undue anticipation of a subsequent depart- 
ment of this treatise, if I previously give a brief 
description of the process by which those islands 
have themselves been brought into existence. 
The account of their origin indeed belongs more 
strictly to the history of the animal than of the 
vegetable world ; but the two subjects are so 
naturally connected, that it would be injudicious 
to separate them. 

It may be collected from the observations of 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 205 



the French navigator, M. Peron, (Ann. du Mus. 
torn. vi. p. 30, &c.) that almost all those count- 
less islands of the Pacific Ocean, which are found 
to the south of the equator between New Hol- 
land and the western coast of America, are 
either entirely or in part made up of coral : and 
all the adjacent ocean abounds with coral reefs, 
which, constantly augmenting, are constantly 
changing the state of bays, and ports, and 
gulfs ; so that new charts are continually re- 
quired for the same coasts. From Barrow also 
it appears, (Barrow's Cochin China, p. 167,) that 
the formation of coral reefs or isles is very com- 
mon in the tropical parts of the Eastern and Pa- 
cific Ocean. And Captain Flinders says that 
the quantity of coral reefs between New Holland 
and New Caledonia and New Guinea, is such, 
that this might be called the Coralliari Sea. 
(Flinders's Voyage, vol. ii. p. 314). 

Many more references might be made, to 
others as well as the above-mentioned voy- 
agers, in order to shew that the formation of 
coral islands is effected by nature on a very ex- 
tensive scale : but, for the present purpose, the 
preceding references may be considered suffi- 
cient. Let us now therefore describe the gene- 
ral character and mode of formation of these 
islands. 

Forster says & that the low islands of tropical 

S Forster's Voyage round the World, p. 14, 15. 



206 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 

seas are commonly 44 narrow, low ledges of coral 
44 rock, including in the middle a kind of lagoon ; 
" and having here and there little sandy spots, 
" somewhat elevated above the level of high 
44 water, on which cocoa-nuts thrive :" corre- 
spondent with which description is the account 
given by captain Cook, on the occasion of dis- 
covering one of these coral reefs ; which was at 
first mistaken by him for land. " This proved to 
" be," he says, " another of those low or half- 
44 drowned islands, or rather a large coral shoal, 
4 4 of about twenty leagues in circuit. A very 
" small part of it was land, which consisted of 
44 little islets ranged along the north side, and 
44 connected by sand-banks and breakers. These 
44 islets were clothed with wood, among which the 
44 cocoa-nut trees were only distinguishable. We 
44 ranged the south side of this shoal at the dis- 
44 tance of one or two miles from the coral bank, 
44 against which the sea broke in a dreadful surf. 
44 In the middle of the shoal was a large lake, or 
44 inland sea, in which was a canoe under sail." 
(Cook's Voyage, 4to. 1777. vol. i. p. 141, 142.) 

Coral, considered as an individual substance, 
is a natural form of carbonate of lime, produced 
by an animal of the polype kind. The particles 
of carbonate of lime, however produced, are 
cemented together so firmly by a glutinous se- 
cretion of the same animal, as to acquire a de- 
gree of consistence, which not only forms a safe 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 207 

habitation for a race of animalcules, from their 
soft texture most obnoxious to external injuries ; 
but which is calculated to resist the utmost ac- 
tion of the sea, and in many instances to protect 
the original surface of the earth itself from its 
assaults. Thus almost all the tropical islands, 
which Cook saw in the South Pacific Ocean, are 
guarded from the sea, to a greater or less extent, 
by a reef of coral rocks, extending out from the 
shore to the distance of six hundred feet and 
farther ; and on this reef the force of the sea is 
spent before it reaches the land : and thus na- 
ture has effectually secured these islands from 
the encroachments of the sea, though many of 
them are mere points when compared with that 
vast ocean h . 

As the specific gravity of coral is greater than 
that of sea-water, the structure of a coral reef 
necessarily commences either from the natural 
bed of the ocean, or from the surface of some 
submarine rock ; and, as may be collected from 
the nature of the soundings among coral reefs, 
the whole structure is very frequently disposed 
in the form of a crescent ; sometimes even ap- 
proaching to a circle. This crescent is, on the 
convex side, built up throughout in very nearly 
a perpendicular direction ; so as to form a wall, 
which is exposed to that quarter from whence a 
stormy sea most frequently prevails. The in- 
i' Cook's Voyage, 1777, 4to. vol. i. p. 212. 



208 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



terior of the structure seems gradually to shelve 
off ; so that about the centre of the inclosed, or 
partially inclosed space, the sea is found of its 
natural depth. Correspondently with such an 
arrangement, it happens usually that the sound- 
ings gradually lessen from the centre of the area 
inclosed by a coral reef, towards the exterior 
ridge ; and then suddenly sink to two hundred 
fathoms or more. 

To the foregoing observations I shall subjoin 
the opinion of captain Flinders on the pro- 
cess observed by nature in the formation of 
coral reefs. 66 It seems to me," he says, " that 
" when the animalcules, which form the coral 
" at the bottom of the ocean, cease to live, their 
" structures adhere to each other by virtue 
" either of the glutinous remains within, or of 
" some property in salt water ; and the inter- 
" stices being gradually filled up with sand and 
" broken pieces of coral washed by the sea, 
" which also adhere, a mass of rock is at length 
" formed. Future races of these animalcules 
" erect their habitations upon the rising bank, 
" and die in their turn ; to increase, but princi- 
" pally to elevate, this monument of their won- 
" derful labours. The care taken to work per- 
" pendicularly, in the early stages, would mark 
" a surprising instinct in these diminutive crea- 
" tures. Their wall of coral, for the most part 
" in situations where the winds are constant, 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 209 

44 being arrived at the surface, affords a shelter ; 
" to leeward of which their infant colonies may 
4 4 be safely sent forth : and to this, their in- 
44 stinctive foresight, it seems to be owing, that 
" the windward side of a reef, exposed to the 
44 open sea, is generally, if not always, the high- 
4 4 est part ; rising almost perpendicularly, some- 
4 4 times from the depth of two hundred and 
44 perhaps many more fathoms. To be con- 
44 stantly covered with water seems necessary to 
44 the existence of the animalcules ; for they do 
44 not work, except in holes upon the reef, be- 
44 yond low-water mark : but the coral sand, 
44 and other broken remnants thrown up by the 
44 sea, adhere to the rock, and form a solid mass 
44 with it, as high as the common tides reach. 
44 That elevation surpassed, the future remnants, 
44 being rarely covered, lose their adhesive pro- 
44 perty ; and, remaining in a loose state, form 
44 what is usually called a key upon the top of 
44 the reef. The new bank is not long in being 
44 visited by sea birds ; salt plants take root upon 
44 it, and a soil begins to be formed ; a cocoa- 
44 nut, or the drupe of a pandanus, is thrown on 
44 shore ; land birds visit it, and deposit the seeds 
44 of shrubs and trees ; every high tide, and still 
44 more every gale, adds something to the bank ; 
44 the form of an island is gradually assumed ; 
44 and, last of all, comes man to take possession '." 
j Flinders's Voyage, vol. ii. p. 11 f>, 11(5. 



210 



ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



In the base of a coral island of the above 
description, captain Flinders distinguished not 
only the sand, coral, and shells, formerly thrown 
up, in a more or less perfect state of cohesion ; 
but also small pieces of wood, pumice-stone, and 
other extraneous bodies, which chance had mixed 
with the calcareous substances when the cohe- 
sion began, and which in some cases were still 
separable from the rock without much force k . 
Such sand-banks are found in different stages 
of progress ; some being overflowed with every 
returning tide ; some raised above high-water 
mark, but destitute of vegetation ; some, lastly, 
habitable and abounding in trees. 

Let us here pause for a moment to contem- 
plate the wonderful effect produced by apparently 
the most inadequate means. And wonderful in- 
deed is the effect, even if the process above de- 
scribed were now to cease for ever ; but much 
more, if we look to its probable extension : for, 
reasoning on what has already been accom- 
plished, and on what is at this moment rapidly 
advancing, it is evidently probable that a new 
habitable surface of land may be eventually 
produced, equal in extent to the whole of Eu- 
rope, and produced by the agency of a tribe of 
animals, which occupy very nearly the lowest 
steps in the scale of animal creation, and which 
in every other respect are the most inefficient 

k Flinders's Voyage, vol. ii. p. 116. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 211 

and helpless of creatures. For, fixed as they 
are, both individually and collectively, to a com- 
pletely local habitation ; or, rather, buried as it 
were in a strong mass of coral, and literally 

" Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,"' 
their general appearance and mode of growth 
so little resemble the animal character, that, for 
a long time, many of the species were considered 
as of vegetable origin ; and are, even now, very 
commonly called zoophytes, or animated plants. 

Nor let us fail to observe, in the foregoing 
account, the physical fitness for each other of 
two very different departments of nature. The 
same geographical climate which gives birth to 
those animals, whose labours produce this pre- 
viously unexpected habitable surface, gives birth 
also to those vegetables, which, at the same time 
that they are capable of growing on so loose 
and poor a soil, are capable besides of supply- 
ing its future inhabitants not only with nutri- 
tious food, both in a liquid and a solid form, 
but with materials for constructing their habi- 
tations, and for many other useful purposes. 
And in the mean time the fowls of the air, and 
the very winds and waves, are all employed in 
administering to the beneficent intentions of 
Providence. Of little use would be a new habit- 
able surface, were it never to be tenanted by hu- 
man beings ; and in vain would man attempt to 
colonize that surface, were it barren of vegetable 

p 2 



212 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



productions : but the seeds of various plants, 
as we have seen in the foregoing descriptions, 
are either brought by birds, or drifted by the 
wind and waves, to a soil calculated to support 
them. 

Among the vegetable productions of coral 
islands, the cocoa-nut tree stands preeminent in 
value ; containing in itself nearly all those im- 
portant properties, which are found at large in 
that natural family of plants, the palms : and 
valuable indeed are those properties, if we may 
rely on the accounts which have been given of 
them by different authors ; and of the truth of 
those accounts there is no sufficient reason to 
doubt. Johnston 1 , speaking of the abundance 
of the cocoa-nut tree in India, where he says it 
occurs to a greater extent than the olive in 
Spain, or the willow in Holland, affirms that 
there is no part of the tree which is not applied 
to some useful purpose. Not only the cabins of 
the poorer natives, but large houses, are con- 
structed entirely with materials afforded by this 
tree ; the trunk, when split, supplying rafters, 
&c; and the leaves, when plaited, making 
roofs and walls, which are impervious to wind 
and rain. The statement of Johnston is con- 
firmed by captain Seely, in his account of El- 
lora m , who says that " when he was stationed at 

1 Johnstonus de Arboribus,, p. 146., &c. 
«» London, 1824, 8vo. p. 284. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 213 



" Goa, in 1809, he lived, as many others did, in 
44 a cocoa-nut-leaf house ; and that although the 
44 period was in the very height of the monsoon, 
" and the house was on the sea-coast, it was 
44 comfortable and warm. He believes that not 
" a nail was used in the whole building : the 
44 rafters and supporters, &c. were fastened on 
4 4 with string made of the fibrous envelope of 
44 the cocoa-nut shell ; the wood was the tree 
44 itself; the roof, walls, doors, and windows 
4 4 were the leaf." From the same authority we 
learn that the fibres, enveloping the shell of 
the nut, may be woven into a cable by which 
ships of seventy-four guns have safely rode out 
heavy gales of wind, when European cables have 
parted. 

In the Wernerian Memoirs, vol. v. p. 107, &c, 
is a very interesting account of the cocoa tree ; 
in which the author states that this tree will grow 
on the sand of the sea-shore, where scarcely 
any thing else will vegetate : which corresponds 
with the account of an author above mentioned, 
who, speaking of its growth, says, 44 radicem ha- 
44 bet tenui spatio porrectam ; et quae quasi con- 
44 tra fidem terra? inhaeret"." And these state- 
ments are quite in accordance with the observa- 
tions of captain Flinders. 

From other sources we learn that this tree 



" Johiistonus tie Arboribus, p. 145. 
p 3 



214 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 

bears fruit twice or thrice in the year ; that the 
half-ripe nut contains sometimes three or four 
pints of a clear aqueous fluid, fragrant, and 
pleasant to the taste; and that the nut itself, 
from its highly nutritious qualities, is used as 
an aliment in all inter-tropical countries p. In the 
volume of the Wernerian Memoirs above men- 
tioned, it is said that in 1813 the number of 
cocoa trees cultivated in Ceylon, along a line 
of coast of about 184 miles, was ten millions, 
and that that number was increased in following 
years ; that this tree is fruitful from its eighth 
to its sixty-fourth year, and sometimes bears 
from eighty to one hundred nuts annually; that 
elephants are fed on cocoa-nut leaves ; and that 
the ashes of the tree contain so great a propor- 
tion of potash, that the native washermen of 
Ceylon use them instead of soap 9. 

In the Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. torn. vii. p. 297, 
&c. it is stated, that, as in other palms, if the ex- 
tremity of the sheath from whence the flowers of 
the cocoa arise be cut off while young, a white 
sweet liquor distils from it, which is used ex- 
tensively as a beverage in India under the name 
of palm wine ; that this liquor, if concentrated 
by boiling, deposits a sugar ; that if exposed to 
the air it acquires vinous properties at the end 
of twelve hours, and at the end of twenty-four 

Nouv. Dictionn. d'Hist. Nat. torn. vii. p. 297, 298. P Ibid, 
q Wern. Mem. vol. v. p. 110—127. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 215 

hours becomes vinegar ; that an oil may be ob- 
tained from the nut, which is not inferior to 
sweet almond oil, and which is used almost ex- 
clusively in India ; and that the shell is formed 
into cups and various other small articles. 

Almost all that has been said of the cocoa tree 
might be repeated of the date tree, making an 
allowance for the specific differences of the two : 
and with respect to the palms in general, Hum- 
boldt says it would not be easy to enumerate the 
various advantages derived from them. " They 
44 afford wine, vinegar, oil, farinaceous food, 
4 4 and sugar ; timber also, and ropes, and mats, 
44 and paper ; and," he adds, that " no trees are 
" so abundant in fruit, even without the aid of 
44 cultivation ; and that the Franciscan monks, 
44 who live in the vicinity of palm plantations, 
44 near the banks of the Orinoco, observe that 
44 the native Indians give evidence of a fruitful 
44 palm year, by the corresponding improvement 
44 in their health and appearance 1 ." 

I shall conclude this part of the subject with a 
translation from the Flora Atlantica of Desfon- 
taines, for the introduction of which no apology, 
I trust, is necessary. In describing the natural 
scenery of groves of palm, the author concludes 
with the following beautiful passage. 44 These 
44 palm-groves, being impervious to the sun's 
44 rays, afford a hospitable shade, both to man and 
r Humboldt, Distrib. G&)gr. Plant, p. 210 — 240. 
p 4 



216 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



" other animals, in a region which would other- 
" wise be intolerable from the heat. And under 
" this natural shelter, the orange, the lemon, the 
" pomegranate, the olive, the almond, and the 
" vine grow in wild luxuriance ; producing, not- 
" withstanding they are so shaded, the most de- 
" licious fruit. And here, while the eyes are fed 
" with the endless variety of flowers which deck 
" these sylvan scenes, the ears are at the same 
" time ravished with the melodious notes of nu- 
" merous birds, which are attracted to these 
" groves by the shade, and the cool springs, and 
" the food which they there find s ." 

SECT. HI. 
Vegetables as a Source of Food. 
It appears from various statements of au- 
thority, that the species of vegetables already 
known amount to about sixty thousand 1 : though 
there is reason to believe the actual number is 
above a hundred thousand u : and, from the ge- 
neral analogy of nature, we may fairly conclude 

s Pahneta radiis solis impervia, umbrani in regione calidissima 
" hospitalem incolis, viatoribus, seque ac animantibus ministrant. 
(t Eorum denso sub tegmine, absque ordine crescunt aurantia, 
" limoneSj punicae^ olese, amygdali, vites, quee cursu geniculato 
" ssepe truncos palmarum scandunt. Hee omnes fructus suavis- 
ei simos, licet obumbratse, ferunt ; ibique mira florum et fructuum 
" varietate pascuntur oculi ; simulque festivis avium cantilenis, 
" quas umbra, aqua, victus alliciunt, recreantur aures." 

Desfontaines, Flora Atlantica^ torn. ii. Append, p. 439. 

t Conversations on Vegetable Physiology, vol. ii. p. 108. 

u Decandolle, Theorie Elem. de la Botanique, 8vo. 181 9, p. 25. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 217 

that no species exists without its use in the 
economy of the earth. Of many indeed we 
witness the direct use, either for the various 
purposes of civilized society, or for the sus- 
tenance of animal life : but for the present let 
us confine our attention to the latter point in 
their history ; and, although whatever is adapted 
to the sustenance of animal life in general, is in- 
directly adapted in a great measure to the ac- 
tual condition of man, and would therefore justly 
come within the scope of this treatise ; yet, that 
we may not extend the subject too far, let us 
consider those species only which constitute the 
direct food of man ; subject indeed frequently to 
such culinary preparations as make our food not 
only more palatable, but also more nutritious. 

Among the numerous species of vegetables 
which supply food to man, by far the greater 
proportion consists of those which may be con- 
sidered upon the whole as mere luxuries ; or at 
most, as affording an agreeable and sometimes 
useful variety. Of those species which afford 
that kind of nutritive matter which is contained 
in what has been emphatically called the staff 
of life, or bread, the number is very small ; legu- 
minous plants, and wheat, and rice, the fruit 
and pith and other parts of some of the palms 
and bananas, and such farinaceous roots as the 
potato, &c. comprising nearly the whole amount. 

It would be unnecessary to point out more 



218 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



particularly the importance of some of the fore- 
going species, to any one at all conversant with 
the general mode of life of Europeans as to 
food : and a slight acquaintance with the his- 
tory of the world is sufficient to shew us, that, 
what wheat and the potato are to Europe, rice 
is to a considerable portion of Asia, Africa, and 
America; and the products of the date and 
cocoa, palms, &c. to the inter-tropical countries 
of the whole earth. But there are some natural 
analogies afforded by those species, with re- 
ference to the animal kingdom, which are well 
worthy of observation. 

In the animal kingdom all those species which 
serve extensively for food, as oxen and sheep and 
swine among quadrupeds ; the turkey, the com- 
mon fowl, and the duck, &c. among birds ; and 
the salmon, cod, herring, &c. among fish, are 
either naturally of a gregarious nature, or are 
easily kept together, by human means, in large 
bodies; and therefore are much better adapted 
to the purpose of supplying food to man, than if 
they were either solitary, or scattered into small 
groups. And so it is with respect to the vege- 
table species above described : they are capable 
of being cultivated, gregariously as it were, with 
comparatively little labour and attention. Thus 
in our own, and other European countries,, the 
daily labourer, after his hours of hired work 
for others, can cultivate his own private field of 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 219 

wheat or of potatoes, with very little additional 
expense of time or trouble. And as to the cul- 
tivation of the tropical fruits, scarcely any labour 
is required for that purpose : so that to the less 
hardy natives of those climates the assertion of 
the poet is strictly applicable, 

" Fundit hunii facilem victum justissima tellus." 
A further analogy is observable in the degree 
of fertility of the respective vegetables and ani- 
mals. Among the animals which are destined 
for the food of man, the species are upon the 
whole prolific in proportion as they are either 
small in size, or inferior as to the nutritive qua- 
lity of their flesh. The cow, which is a large 
animal, produces one usually at a birth ; the 
sheep very commonly two; swine, several. 
Poultry, which are comparatively small, are 
capable of rearing a numerous brood ; and fish, 
which are of a less nutritious nature, and gene- 
rally smaller than quadrupeds, are still more 
prolific. And, similarly, in the vegetable spe- 
cies which are destined for the food of man, the 
numerical quantity of the product in a given 
area is greater or less, in proportion to the indi- 
vidual size of the fruit produced. Dates, which 
are smaller than cocoa-nuts, are produced in 
greater number than the latter; and in a square 
yard of soil, a much greater number of grains of 
rice or wheat is produced than of roots of the 
potato. 



220 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



Lastly, another analogy may be observed with 
reference to the palate. The taste of the flesh 
of those species, which constitute to man the 
staple as it were of animal food, is acceptable 
to most palates. And it is neither so rich as 
soon to cloy the appetite on the one hand, or 
invite it to luxurious indulgence on the other; 
nor so devoid of flavour, as to deter us from 
taking a proper quantity. And is it not the 
same with respect to those vegetable species, 
which are among the most ordinary and most 
necessary articles of our food ? If corn, and the 
potato, and the cocoa-nut, had the pungency of 
euphorbium, the nauseating quality of ipeca- 
cuan, the heat of pepper, or the lusciousness of 
sugar, on the one hand, or the insipidity of 
powdered chalk on the other ; what an under- 
taking would it be to satisfy the craving of 
hunger with any one of those vegetables" ! 

It will be in vain to urge, in opposition to the 
foregoing position, that custom in particular in- 
stances renders many things tolerable, and even 
pleasing to the taste, which at first were dis- 
gusting ; for it would be found that in such in- 
stances custom has arisen from necessity, which 
often brings us acquainted with strange com- 

x On many occasions, however, pungent, or aromatic sub- 
stances, as garlic, mustard, and spices, added to food compara- 
tively of little flavour, as rice, &c. make it more palatable, and 
more easily digestible. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 221 

panions ; or from a depraved taste. None have 
ever consented voluntarily to feed on the flesh 
of horses, or of ravens ; and caviare will always 
be caviare to the multitude. 

Next in importance to those vegetable species 
which either afford the material of bread, or an 
equivalent for it, may be classed those which 
contribute partly to the nourishment of man, and 
partly to his health and solace. The human sys- 
tem certainly may be, and too often from neces- 
sity absolutely is, supported solely on the nutri- 
ment afforded by the former species : but if we 
view the actual state of society, we find that 
many vegetable species and products may now 
properly be classed among the necessaries of 
life, which for many ages remained either un- 
discovered, or were only locally known, or 
sparingly employed ; of which it will be quite 
sufficient to mention tea> r , and sugar, and the 
potato. The sugar cane has for such a length 
of time usurped the prerogative of supplying the 
world with sugar, that other sources have been 
little considered : but even in cold climates there 
are plants capable of affording it in considerable 
quantities. There is, for instance, a species of 
maple cultivated in North America for the sake 

y During five years, beginning with 1826, about one hundred 
and fifty million pounds of tea were sold at the East India 
House, the average annual consumption being, according to the 
preceding statement, thirty million pounds. 



222 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



of the sugar obtained from its sap, which is 
capable of returning a very great profit to its 
cultivator ; of which the following document, 
copied from a note by Dr. Hunter in his edition 
of Evelyn's Sylva, is a sufficient proof; there 
being no reason to suspect any fraud 2 . It is 
added in the same note, that a single family, 
consisting of a man and his two sons, on the 
maple-sugar lands between the Delaware and 
Susquehannah, made 1800lbs of maple sugar in 
one season. The whole note, consisting of eight 
closely printed quarto pages, which appears to 
have been furnished by Dr. Rush of Pennsyl- 
vania university, is well worth the perusal a . 

If we consider the subordinate wants of the 
animal economy, we must in reason allow that 
those succulent fruits and vegetables, which are 
abundantly produced in almost all parts of the 
world, are destined by Providence for an im- 
portant end with reference to the food of man. 
The very form and arrangement of our teeth, 

z u Received, Cooper's Town, April 30, 1790, of W. Cooper, 
" sixteen pounds, for 640 pounds of (maple) sugar, made with 
" my own hands, without any assistance, in less than four weeks; 
cc besides attending to the other business of my farm, as provid- 
" ing fire-wood, taking care of the cattle, &c. 

" Witness R. Smith." " John Nicholls." 

Silva, 3d ed. by A. Hunter, York, 1801. vol. i. p. 190. 

a The tree commonly called the sycamore, which is really a 
species of maple, yields a sweet sap which has occasionally been 
used to supply the place of malt in brewing. Ib. p. 200. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 223 

and the structure of our stomach, shew, that our 
system is naturally adapted to a mixed food : and 
although those of our teeth, which resemble the 
corresponding teeth of carnivorous animals, are 
so little developed as to make it in that re- 
spect doubtful whether nature intended us to 
live on flesh ; yet our stomach, and the rest of 
our apparatus of digestion, aided moreover by 
culinary preparation, certainly approximate us 
fully as much to the carnivorous as to the her- 
bivorous classes. It is obvious, moreover, that 
we have an ample array of teeth for cutting and 
grinding vegetable matter. This then being the 
case, we might antecedently expect that our na- 
tural taste would lead us to enjoy the flavour of 
vegetable, as well as animal food ; and that nature 
would supply us with a variety of the one as well 
as of the other ; for variety itself is salutary. 

And on this as on every occasion, we have an 
opportunity of seeing how Providence not only 
meets all the wants of mankind, but meets them 
in such a way as their local situation requires. 
Thus wheat, which contains a more strengthen- 
ing principle of nutrition than the product of 
the palms and arrow-root, and is therefore better 
calculated to support the hardier efforts of the 
inhabitants of temperate or cold climates, will 
not grow readily in inter-tropical climates 1 '; and, 
reciprocally, the palms and cognate plants of 

b Desfontaines, Flora Atlantica, torn. ii. Appendix, p. 438. 



224 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 

inter-tropical regions cease to be productive, if 
cultivated much beyond the tropics . And the 
orange, the lemon, the water-melon, the grape, 
and the fig, which are easily cultivated in warm 
climates d , by the abundance of their juice, are 
enabled both to allay the sensation of present 
heat and thirst, and to repair the loss of that 
natural moisture of the body, which is continu- 
ally passing from it in the form of either sen- 
sible or insensible perspiration. Even in the 
temperate climate of our own island, how many 
days are there, during the summer, in which 
such fruits are most refreshing : and to gratify 
the desire of that refreshment we import such 
species as are capable of bearing a long voy- 
age; among which the orange is a very princi- 
pal article of import: nor would it be easy to 
calculate the myriads of that fruit which are 
annually consumed in this country. But the 

c Wern. Mem. vol. v. p. 112. 

d An interesting fact is related in the " Conversations on Vege- 
(i table Physiology" respecting an artificial mode of ripening the fig. 
" In hot climates the fig-tree produces two crops of fruit : and 
" the peasants in the isles of the Archipelago, where the fig-tree 
" abounds, bring branches of wild fig-trees in the spring, which 
' c they spread over those that are cultivated. These wild branches 
" serve as a vehicle to a prodigious number of small insects of 
e f the genus called cynips, which perforate the figs in order to 
" make a nest for their eggs ; and the wound they inflict acce- 
" lerates the ripening of the fruit nearly three weeks ; thus 
" leaving time for the second crop to come to maturity in due 
" season." (vol. ii. p. 41, 42.) 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 225 

cognate fruit, the lemon, at the same time that, 
on account of the grateful and aromatic flavour 
of its juice, it is occasionally as eagerly sought 
as the orange, serves a still higher purpose : for 
the acid contained in it has been successfully 
employed, as an antidote and a remedy for one 
of the most dreadful diseases to which mariners 
are subject. Sea-scurvy in fact has all but dis- 
appeared since the general adoption of this 
remedy e . 

SECT. IV. 
Vegetables as applicable to Medicine. 
If vegetables are valuable on account of their 
power of affording sustenance and keeping the 
body in a state of health, they are also valuable 
on account of their power of restoring health 
where it has been impaired : for, however scep- 
tical some minds may be as to the powers of 
medicine in general, and however ignorant 
even the most sagacious and experienced medi- 
cal practitioners may be as to the precise mode 
in which any medical substance acts on the hu- 
man constitution ; yet this at least is certain, 
that, in by far the greater number of instances, 

e It is probable that fresh vegetables of any kind are sufficient 
to prevent or to remove scurvy : for it is stated in Sauer's ac- 
count of Billings's expedition, that that disease disappeared, even 
in so high a northcn latitude as the Aleutan islands, as soon as 
the new vegetation sprang up in April (p. 270') ; and many other 
evidences of the same fact might be easily adduced. 

Q 



226 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 

certain symptoms which indicate a disturbed 
state of the system are mitigated, and finally 
subdued, in consequence of the exhibition, to 
use a technical term, of certain reputed reme- 
dies. And it is open to the observation of al- 
most every one, that the vegetable kingdom is 
the most fertile source, not only of the com- 
monest and least efficient, but of some of the 
most powerful medicines with which we are 
acquainted. Nor can we doubt, when we see 
similar effects resulting from the use of the 
same medicines in individuals of very different 
constitutions, that the peculiar qualities of those 
substances, with respect to the effects they pro- 
duce in the human system, were imparted to 
them by nature with a view to their application 
to those ends. 

It may have happened to any one in the course 
of the last few years, during which intermittent 
fever or ague has prevailed very generally in 
this country, to witness the severe nature of some 
symptoms of that disease ; paroxysms of dread- 
ful rigour or shivering ; nausea ; intense head- 
ache, with delirium ; paralytic affections of the 
limbs ; and burning heat of the whole body, 
terminating in profuse perspiration : and who- 
ever has witnessed such symptoms, recurring in 
the same individual at stated intervals, has pro- 
bably seen their return at once arrested by a 
few doses of Peruvian bark, in the state of 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 227 

powder; the effect of which remedy, in sub- 
duing a violent disease, compared with the 
small quantity of it employed for that purpose, 
has been not inelegantly though playfully il- 
lustrated by that passage of the Georgics, in 
which the husbandman is taught to allay the 
occasional contests and agitations of the bees, 
by scattering a handful of dust among them. 

" Hi motus atque haec certamina tanta 

" Pulveris exiguijactu compressa quiescent." 

And, if the vegetable kingdom had failed to af- 
ford any other medicinal substance than this, 
mankind would have still had ample cause for 
thankfulness. 

But, even in the instances of those remedies 
from which nothing beyond a present or tem- 
porary alleviation is expected, the benefit usu- 
ally accruing cannot easily be estimated at too 
high a rate : and one remedy there is, of this 
nature, for which mankind is indebted to the 
vegetable kingdom exclusively. How often has 
not opium lulled the most excruciating agonies 
of pain ? how often has it not restored the balm 
of sleep to the almost exhausted body; or quiet- 
ed those nervous agitations of the whole system, 
the terrors of which none perhaps can duly ap- 
preciate but those who have experienced them ! 
There are however diseased or unnatural states 
of the body, in which no direct remedy can be 
applied, and all soothing means would not only 
be ineffectual, but fatal : in such states those 

Q 2 



228 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



substances, which are directly opposed in qua- 
lity to opium, and irritate instead of soothing 
the surfaces to which they are applied, are va- 
luable precisely on that account : they rouse 
the system, for instance, from a state of lethargy, 
which otherwise would probably terminate in 
death ; or they stimulate the stomach to reject 
any substance of a poisonous nature, which may 
have been either intentionally or accidentally 
introduced into it, and they thus contribute to 
the preservation of life. Remedies of this cha- 
racter, though not exclusively belonging to the 
vegetable kingdom, are frequently afforded by it. 

But, in enumerating the medicinal auxiliaries 
which mankind derive from the vegetable king- 
dom, let me not omit the restorative virtue of 
that gift of Heaven, which, though by its abuse 
it may intoxicate the mental faculties and un- 
dermine the general health of the body, is cal- 
culated most assuredly, when rightly used, not 
only to revive the drooping energies, but to re- 
kindle the almost expiring spark of life. Survey 
the wretched subject of what is called typhus, 
while oppressed by those symptoms which justify 
the use of this restorative ; when the glazed eye 
and squalid skin, the feeble circulation and mut- 
tering delirium, announce the near approach of 
death, unless the proper medicine be interposed ; 
and then watch the beneficial effect of this 
divine remedy. They who have witnessed the 
progress of typhus fever in some of its forms, 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 229 



and in individuals who have lived in crowded and 
ill-ventilated habitations, will acknowledge that 
in very many instances wine alone has, humanly 
speaking, rescued the patient from the grave. 

Nor will it be irrelevant to the general subject 
of this treatise to consider the natural origin of 
wine : by which I mean, not the mode or time 
of its discovery; either of which it would be as 
useless as vain to attempt to investigate, since 
this liquid was in common use at a period long 
antecedent to history: but by its natural origin 
I mean the circumstances under which it is 
usually produced. There is a law in nature, by 
which organised bodies, vegetables as well as 
animals, are disposed to undergo spontaneous 
decomposition very soon after they have ceased 
to live ; the ultimate result of which is, a resolu- 
tion into their elementary principles : in other 
words, they putrefy and perish. But even in 
this state, in which they are deprived of all their 
former properties, they administer to the good 
of man : and, under the name of manure, are 
known as the principal means of fertilizing the 
ground ; from whence all his food is ultimately 
obtained. The circumstances, however, which 
accompany this change in vegetables, differ very 
much from those which attend the corresponding 
change in animals ; and may be well illustrated 
by a reference to the process of niakinu any 
common wine. 

Q 3 



230 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 

If a sufficient quantity of the juice of ripe 
grapes, or of any other saccharine fluid, be ex- 
posed to a moderately warm temperature, an in- 
ternal movement of its particles soon begins to 
take place ; which is technically called fermen- 
tation: and during the period when this is going 
on, the sugar of the liquor is, in part, converted 
into wine. If the fermentation be now arrested 
by the proper means, the whole mass of the li- 
quid may be preserved in nearly the same state 
for a longer or shorter period, in proportion to 
the quantity of wine contained in it : but if, after 
the vinous fermentation, as it is called, has been 
completed, the temperature be to a certain de- 
gree increased, the wine is converted into vi- 
negar by a continuance of the process of fer- 
mentation : and, ultimately, the acid taste and 
odour of the vinegar are lost ; and the whole 
mass of the liquor becomes first vapid, and then 
putrid. 

That such a process as putrefaction should 
take place in organised bodies after their death, 
might in reasoning be antecedently expected ; for 
the purpose of administering to the growth of 
their successive generations in the case of vegeta- 
bles f ; and to prevent the indefinite accumulation 

f 44 Haud igitur penitus pereunt quascunque videntur : 
44 Quando alid ex alio reficit Natura,, nec ullam 
" Rem gigni patitur, nisi morte adjutam aliena." 

Lucret. I. 263 — 5. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 231 

of so much dead and useless matter in the case 
of animals : but we could not have anticipated, 
that, while animal matter at once passes into a 
state of putrefaction, vegetable matter should 
previously pass through two intermediate states ; 
accompanied with products which in their na- 
ture differ both from each other, and from the 
source from Avhich they were derived : both, 
however, as we might very reasonably expect 
from the known wisdom and beneficence of the 
Creator, of the highest importance to mankind. 

From wine, to say nothing of the advantages 
resulting from its proper use in its common 
state, is derived that useful fluid called alcohol, 
or spirit of wine : among the most valuable pro- 
perties of which, may be ranked its power of 
dissolving resin, and other vegetable principles ; 
and of preserving organised matter from the 
putrefactive process. In consequence of the for- 
mer power, it is employed to extract from va- 
rious vegetables some of those parts in which 
their medicinal virtues reside ; and to preserve 
them in a convenient form for immediate use, 
at any moment, under the technical name of 
tinctures. And with respect to its importance 
as a preservative of animal and vegetable mat- 
ter, but particularly of the former, I need only 
point out any one of those collections of anato- 
mical preparations contained in the museums 
of every medical school in Europe. But if any 

Q 4 



232 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 

single instance of its application to this purpose 
be demanded, who can hesitate to name that 
astonishing proof of the genius and industry of 
the great English physiologist, John Hunter, 
the founder of the Collection preserved in the 
Royal College of Surgeons? on the pedestal of 
whose bust, placed within the walls of the mu- 
seum of that college, might well be inscribed, 
as I believe has been often suggested, those 
appropriate words, 

" Cujus monumentum si cjiucras, eircumspice" 
SECT. V. 

Vegetables as applicable to the Arts, fyc. 

In considering the application of natural sub- 
stances to the various purposes of life, it is often 
interesting to compare the simplicity of the 
original contrivance with the complicated ma- 
nipulations of the process by which, at the 
present day, a material, destined for a specific 
use, is brought into a fit state for that use. Let 
fine writing-paper be taken as an instance ; and 
let us compare the history of a piece of such 
paper with that of the simple material on which 
many Oriental manuscripts are written — the mere 
leaf of a tree, probably some species of palm, — 
which after having been cut into the requisite 
size and form, seems to have undergone no other 
preparation than simple pressure ; partly with 
the view of forcing out its natural moisture, and 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 233 

partly of smoothing its surface. How different the 
history of the paper that is daily fabricated in 
any of the large manufactories of this country ; 
and how little would its origin and numerous 
changes of state be conjectured from its present 
appearance ! Heaps of linen rags of every co- 
lour, when indeed that colour can be distin- 
guished through the dirt which adheres to them, 
are brought from almost every quarter of Eu- 
rope ; each rag having probably been part of 
some article of dress, which, as it grew viler by 
use, passed from a more to a less respectable 
possessor ; till it at length became the tattered 
and threadbare covering of the poorest men- 
dicant. 

From such a material is the finest paper 
made : and, in the commencement of the pro- 
cess, each individual rag undergoes an examina- 
tion with respect to its size, and is cut into two 
or more pieces according to that size. Separate 
heaps are then mechanically shaken together, 
and sifted, in order to clear them from adhering 
dust : they are subsequently washed, mechani- 
cally divided into small shreds, bleached, then 
thrown into vats of water, and there reduced to 
a tine pulp by the application of powerful ma- 
chinery. This pulp, by very delicate yet simple 
means, is kept in a state of close and equable 
diffusion over an even surface, and is made to 
pass between successive pairs of smooth metallic 



234 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



cylinders ; all of which, by pressing out the 
moisture of the pulp, bring its particles more 
closely together, and thus tend to give it the 
requisite degree of firmness and cohesion ; the 
last pair being heated sufficiently to dry the 
paper during its passage between them. 

Such are the numerous and elaborate pro- 
cesses, by which a heap of sordid rags is con- 
verted into the beautiful material of which we 
have been speaking. And if, to the accumu- 
lated processes to which each rag is submitted 
during its fabrication into paper, be added its 
previous history, as the cultivation and subse- 
quent dressing of the flax of which it was made, 
the formation of the fibre of the flax into thread, 
the weaving of the thread into linen, and, in the 
majority of instances, the dyeing of the linen ; 
if all these points be collectively considered, 
what food for a reflecting mind does not the 
minutest particle of the resulting paper af- 
ford ! 

Many plants are capable of yielding a colour- 
ing matter, which by chemical means may be 
readily made to combine with various sub- 
stances, as linen, woollen, silk, and leather. This 
property, which sometimes resides in the stem 
and branches, sometimes in the leaves and 
flowers, may be classed among those properties 
of plants, which, if we consider the actual state 
of society in all the civilised parts of the world, 



HO THE PHYSIC AL CONDITION OF MAN. 235 

are productive of the greatest advantage to 
mankind. Hence, for instance, has arisen an 
art. the art of dyeing, which not only opens a 
wide field of employment to a numerous class 
of workmen, in every large city : but gives a 
degree of activity to general commerce, which 
cannot but surprise the mind of any one pre- 
viously ignorant of the circumstance. Thus the 
quantity of indigo, accumulated in the exten- 
sive repositories of the East-India company, is 
frequently so great as to make the occasional 
observer wonder that it should ever find a mar- 
ket : and the following statement will shew how 
important this single substance is as an article 
of commerce. During the last five years, the 
quantity of indigo imported into London amounts 
to at least one hundred and twenty thousand 
chests : the average weight of the contents of 
each chest equalling 270lbs, and the average 
price of each pound being five shillings. The 
estimated value therefore of the indigo con- 
tained in the 120,000 chests would be rather more 
than eight millions sterling. 

If I am correct in supposing that blue, red, 
and yellow, are the colours most abundantly 
supplied by vegetables, it cannot fail to strike 
a mind of the least reflexion, that these are 
precisely the elementary colours which a dyer 
would have antecedently selected, in order to be 
enabled to practise hk art to the greatest ad- 



236 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 

vantage ; since from these three, all other co- 
lours or tints may be obtained. And with re- 
spect to black, which must practically be con- 
sidered as a distinct colour, though not ad- 
mitted as such theoretically, it is worthy of ob- 
servation, that, although scarcely any vegetable 
substance yields it directly ; yet, by the inter- 
vention of almost any form of iron, and this 
metal is in some shape or other present every- 
where, it may readily be produced from a very 
numerous class of vegetable substances. In al- 
most every instance where a vegetable sub- 
stance has an austere and bitter taste, it will 
with iron give a dye of a black colour. Thus 
the bark of the oak, and of many other trees, 
and that vegetable excrescence called the gall- 
nut, produce an ink by the addition of any 
saline form of iron. 

From the earliest and least civilised times, 
and through every intermediate stage of society 
to the present period of refinement, the produc- 
tions of the vegetable world have been in con- 
stant request for the most common purposes of 
life. The simplest dwellings not only of the 
uninstructed savage, but of the peasantry of 
many parts of modern Europe, are constructed 
almost entirely of wood ; the simplest imple- 
ments of husbandry, the plough, the spade, and 
the hoe, could hardly be employed without the 
aid of a wooden frame-work or handle : and the 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 237 



same observation holds good with reference to 
the tools of the most necessary arts of life. How 
oreat would be the inconvenience, and how in- 
creased would be the labour of the carpenter, 
or the smith, or the mason, if, instead of wood, 
the handles of his implements were of iron ! Nor 
are substances of vegetable origin of less im- 
portance, or less generally employed, in many 
of the higher arts of life. Examine the struc- 
ture of a man of war — its hulk, of oak ; its masts, 
of fir ; its sails and ropes, of flax ; its caulking, 
of tow and of tar. All is of vegetable origin from 
the top-mast head to the keel itself. With the 
exception indeed of the iron which is occa- 
sionally used in the construction, no metallic 
substance is necessarily employed ; for the cop- 
per sheathing, though highly useful, is certainly 
not necessary. 

It would require volumes to describe all the 
economical uses to which vegetables are ap- 
plied. How many important trades arise from 
this source. How many families, now existing 
in opulence, originally derived their surnames 
from their occupation, and that occupation con- 
nected with vegetable materials ; for instance, 
Cooper, Carpenter, Dyer, Tanner, Turner, 
Wheeler, Weaver, Barker, Hayward, Gardener, 
Cartwright, Miller, Fletcher, Bowyer ! 

And then, to answer the various purposes to 
which they are to be applied, how widely do 



238 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



the qualities of different vegetable productions 
differ from each other ! How well the rigid 
fibre and compact texture of the oak enable 
the bulky vessel to resist the buffeting of the 
waves! The ash, the beech, the fir, the yew, 
each has those appropriate qualities which make 
it individually preferable to the rest. The flexi- 
bility of the hemp and flax renders them capable 
of being woven and formed into sails and cord- 
age ; and, exposed as the sails and rigging are 
to the vicissitudes of the weather, how well are 
they protected by being covered over with tar, 
itself of vegetable origin ! 

Some woods very readily split with that regu- 
larity of surface which we observe in common 
laths ; and of the utility of that kind of material 
in almost every kind of building no one can well 
be ignorant. Other woods, as the willow, very 
readily bend, with a considerable degree of elas- 
ticity, in every direction ; and hence are of value 
in the fabrication of what is known under the 
general name of wicker-work 8. 

g The art of making wicker-work is often successfully culti- 
vated at a very early period of civilization. Thus^ in the neigh- 
bourhood of California., some of Captain Beechey's officers were 
supplied with "water brought to them in baskets,, which the 
" Indians weave so close, that, when wet, they become excellent 
<c substitutes for bowls." (Beechey's Voyage, p. 385.) And we 
know that, not long after the conquest of Britain by Caesar, the 
ornamental wicker-work of the natives was highly prized at 
Rome. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 239 

In this department, again, though not to the 
same extent as in the case of some of the metals, 
is seen the effect of human labour in advancing 
the value of the original material. Compare, for 
instance, the mercantile value of a piece of fine 
lace with the original value of the material of 
which it is made. 

There are many plants, which, though they 
neither produce fruit of any value nor are ca- 
pable of being applied to any of the common 
purposes of the arts, are yet of the highest value 
as a natural defence to cultivated lands against 
the incursions of cattle ; and sometimes even 
against the attacks of disciplined troops. 

The quickset of our common hedges is an in- 
stance of the former application ; and of its uti- 
lity in this country no one can doubt, unless he 
happen to live exclusively in those districts, as 
in certain parts of the Cotswold and similar 
ranges of hills, where stone supplies a more 
ready material for a fence. Of the extent of 
its application, it would not be easy to make 
a correct estimate : but, when we consider how 
many public roads, and how many private enclo- 
sures are bounded by a fence of quickset, it be- 
comes probable that the linear extent of hedges 
of this kind is, in England alone, equal to many 
times the circumference of the whole earth. In 
describing one of the most important fortresses 
in the Deccan, captain Seely, in his account of 



240 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES 



the temples of Ellora, states that the town, 
which stands about 1020 yards from the fort, 
is surrounded by a hedge of prickly pear, nearly 
eighteen feet high, and thick in proportion. 
This natural defence around towns and villages 
on the western side of India is very common ; 
and it offers to a predatory body of horse or foot 
a formidable barrier: for the sharp and long 
thorns, which project from the stem and leaf, 
not only act as an immediate defence; but, if 
broken off, they exude a liquid which often pro- 
duces severe inflammation 11 . 

In a part of Normandy, lying between Caen 
and Falaise, is a district called " Le Bocage' 1 
{petit bois), which " derives its name from the 
' ' high and bushy hedges with which it abounds ; 
" and which are designed to afford shelter from 
" the stormy winds of the Atlantic. There are 
" but few trees in those parts ; but the hedges, 
" being from eight to ten feet in height, are suf- 
" ficient to protect the crops from the boisterous 
" sea-breezes : and they thence bear the name 
" of brise-vent' 1 ." 

The last point in the history of vegetables 
which I propose to consider is their application 
as fuel ; and many nations entirely derive their 
supply of fuel, for culinary and other domestic 
purposes, from the vegetable kingdom alone : 

h P. 522. 

i Conversations on V egetable Physiology, vol. ii. p. 232. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 241 

and even where such a supply is in a great 
measure needless, on account of the abundance 
of coal, yet, for many purposes, various forms of 
wood, either in a recent or in a charred state, 
are preferred, on account of the injurious effects 
arising from the sulphur with which coal is 
usually contaminated ; in the heating of bakers' 
ovens, for instance, in the drying of malt, and 
in numerous processes of the arts. Around the 
shores of the Arctic Ocean, where scarcely any 
traces of native vegetation are observable, the 
inhabitants are amply supplied by drift-wood 
(Sauer's account of Billings's Expedition, p. 
104 — 259). And captain Beechey says, that drift- 
wood is to the Esquimaux what forests are to 
us ; being in such abundance and variety, that 
the inhabitants have the choice of several sorts 
of trees. All this drift-wood about the mouths 
of rivers, on the north coast of America, appears 
to be brought down by those rivers from the in- 
terior of America : but from the occurrence of 
many floating trees to the southward of Kam- 
chatka, and from other circumstances, it is pro- 
bable that much of the drift-wood, found at a 
distance from the mouths of rivers, comes very 
far from the southward (p. 575 — 580). 

Nor does the benefit, arising from vegetable 
forms of fuel, terminate with their consumption. 
The residuary ashes are useful, as a manure for 
the land, on account of the alkaline matter which 

ii 



242 ADAPTATION OF VEGETABLES, &C. 

they contain: and that alkaline matter is also 
to many a poor peasant a substitute for soap ; 
the lixivium, or ley, which may be obtained by 
filtering water through the ashes, owing its de- 
tergent quality to the alkali which it has dis- 
solved in its passage. In those parts of the 
world indeed, as in North America, for instance, 
where it is requisite to clear the land of wood, 
for the purpose of bringing it into cultivation, 
the ashes of the forests, which are necessarily 
burned for this purpose, afford an enormous 
quantity of alkaline residuum ; and this is the 
source of much of that alkali of commerce, 
which, from having been obtained by evapora- 
tion of its solution in iron pans or pots, is com- 
monly known under the name of potash. 

That other alkali of commerce, called soda, is 
derived from a similar, though indeed a much 
more humble source ; for, in this case, the al- 
kali does not result from the combustion of 
stately and aboriginal forests, but from the com- 
bustion of heaps of sea- weed ; which, in various 
parts of the coast of Europe, has been collected 
from the surfaces of the adjoining rocks k . 

k In some instances loose stones are intentionally placed on 
the sea-beach for the purpose of affording a substratum for the 
growth of various sea-plants, which attach themselves to the 
stones so placed. 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS, &C. 



243 



CHAP. IX. 

Adaptation of Animals to the Physical Condition 
of Man. 
SECT. I. 

General Observations on the Animal Kingdom. 
THE same remark may be made with regard 
to the general utility of animals, which has been 
made in the case of vegetables : for we have 
sufficient reason for believing, that, among the 
myriads of species of animals which exist upon 
the face of the earth, there is not one which 
does not act an important part in the economy 
of nature 1 . And yet, if it be correctly stated 
that out of about a hundred thousand species of 
animals, the number supposed to have been 
hitherto discovered, eighty thousand are of the 
class of insects" 1 ; it will be evident that the 
mass of mankind is ignorant of the very exist- 
ence of nearly four fifths of the whole animal 
kingdom : for, with the exception of the fly, the 

1 It is the opinion of Mr. Scoresby, (Account of the Arctic 
Regions, vol. i. p. 179, 180.) that the olive-green colour of the 
water, observable in many parts of the Greenland sea, is owing 
to the presence of numberless quantities of very small medusa; 
and other minute animals. " These small animals," he says, 
" apparently afford nourishment to the sepia3, actiniae, and other 
" mollusca which constitute the food of the whale : thus pro- 
u ducing a dependent chain of animal life, one particular link 
* of which being destroyed, the whole must necessarily perish. 

m The number is probably greater. 

R 2 



244 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



bee, the wasp, the ant, and perhaps ten or 
twelve more species, few bnt professed natu- 
ralists are acquainted with the specific differ- 
ences of this class of animals ; so small are they 
in size, and so apparently insignificant to a 
common observer. But, if we have reason for 
believing that not a single animal species exists 
without its use in the general economy of na- 
ture, we have a certainty that there are many, 
the absence of which would be almost incom- 
patible with the continuance of the existence of 
the human race. If, for instance, the duties of 
the shepherd and herdsman could no longer be 
exercised, in consequence of the extinction of 
the two species of which they have now respect- 
ively the care, into what misery would not the 
population of a great part of the world be 
plunged, cut off at once from some of the most 
substantial forms of animal food, and the most 
general and effectual sources of clothing ! 

And, if we consider the subject in another 
point of view, how fitly are the natures of these 
species, from the individuals of which such im- 
mense advantage accrues to man, accommodated 
to that end ! If, for instance, the sheep and the 
ox were carnivorous, instead of herbivorous, how 
could the species be preserved : or, supposing 
for a moment that a sufficient quantity of ani- 
mal food could be procured for them, under 
that supposition how could it be conveniently 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 245 

distributed to the flocks and herds scattered 
over a thousand hills ; which now, without any 
consequent trouble to the shepherd or the herds- 
man, leisurely crop the grass, as they slowly 
traverse the surface from their morning to their 
evening range of pasture. 

Let us suppose, again, that the horse were to 
become extinct. In that event how greatly 
would be in a moment altered the condition of 
the whole civilized world ! for by what other 
means could there be kept up that general com- 
munication, between distant parts of the same 
empire, the rapidity and facility of which contri- 
bute at the same time to national prosperity, 
and to individual wealth and comfort ; since 
that recent invention, the steam carriage, though 
capable of supplying the place of horses along 
the course of regular roads, would be inappli- 
cable in most other situations ? Consider, again, 
the position of contending armies, whose fate 
often is determined by the evolutions of united 
squadrons of this noblest of all the inferior ani- 
mals ; and sometimes even by the speed of the 
individual charger whose rider conveys the com- 
mand which is to determine those evolutions: 
or, to descend into the less important though 
not less interesting scenes of domestic life, let 
us imagine, what we may perhaps have wit- 
nessed, the ecstasy of an afflicted parent, who 
has been enabled by the speed of this all but 

r 3 



246 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



friend of man to reach the couch, and to re- 
ceive the dying embraces of a beloved child; 
or to obtain those means of human aid, which 
haply may have averted the stroke of impend- 
ing death. 

But in this, as in many similar instances, we 
can at once perceive (what we may always in 
reasoning presume) that an alteration in the 
constitution of any department of nature would 
be incompatible with that harmony of the whole, 
the existence of which is evident to all those 
who are capable of observing and interrogating 
philosophically the phenomena of creation. And 
if it should be said that some species of animals 
have actually become extinct, and others are 
gradually becoming more and more rare ; yet, 
in such instances, we shall find the fact to be 
either the result of a providential adjustment, if 
the expression may be permitted ; or, of the ori- 
ginal rarity of the species themselves, as in the 
case of that uncouth bird the dodo n ; or, as might 

" It is not without reason that the epithet uncouth has been 
applied to the dodo ; for two distinguished naturalists, in their 
day., maintained for many years that such a form had never ex- 
isted, but in the imagination of the painter. One of these in- 
dividuals however at length had an opportunity of inspecting 
the well-known specimen of the head of the dodo, which is pre- 
served in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford; and was then con- 
vinced that such a bird had existed. But so far was he from 
producing the same conviction in the mind of his friend, by the 
description of the specimen, that he incurred the charge of an 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 247 



possibly happen, with respect to that still more 
remarkable animal of New Holland, the orni- 
thorhynchus paradoxus : in each of which in- 
stances the locality of the species appears to 
have been always extremely limited. 

On the other hand there are species of ani- 
mals, which, though so minute, and so far re- 
moved from common observation, as to be 
scarcely known to mankind at large, much less 
employed for any useful purpose, would yet be 
productive of great inconvenience were they 
permitted to increase indefinitely : and hence, 
although they may perhaps previously accom- 
plish some important end in the scheme of na- 
ture, they are destined to be the food of other 
animals, which, being much larger than them- 
selves, necessarily consume them in great quan- 
tity. There is hardly a bird, or a reptile, or a 
fish, the contents of whose stomach would not 
bear witness to the truth of the assertion just 
made : and even among quadrupeds there are 
many species, as the mole, the hedgehog, the 
manis, and the ant-eater, which, from the na- 
ture of their food, are grouped into a distinct 
family, called insectivorous. 

intentional deception ; and the result was, that an interminable 
feud arose between them : for though they were attached to the 
same institution, and lived within its walls, (not indeed without 
other companions, or absolutely under the same roof, as their 
prototypes in the Eddystone light-house,) they never again 
spoke to each other. 

R 4 



248 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



SECT. II. 

Geographical Distribution of Animals. 

Among the strongest evidences of an inten- 
tional adaptation of the external world to the 
physical condition of man, may be classed the 
geographical distribution of animals, taken in 
connexion with certain points in their general 
history. Thus the elephant, which lives ex- 
clusively on vegetable food, is found naturally 
in those climates only, where vegetation is so 
luxuriantly abundant as easily to meet the large 
supply, which numerous individuals of such 
enormous bulk require : and then the tracta- 
bility and docility of the animal are such, that 
its amazing strength may be easily directed to 
forward the purposes of man ; and often is so 
directed, in the conduct of military operations, 
as well as on various ordinary occasions : and 
lastly, the increase of the species advances 
slowly ; for, in by far the greater number of in- 
stances, only one individual is produced at a 
birth. Now had the elephant been equally 
adapted to colder climates, where vegetation is 
comparatively scant, the difficulty of supporting 
the individual animals in such climates would 
have diminished the value of the species: or, 
were elephants as intractable and indocile, as 
they are the reverse, what destruction would 
they not be continually dealing around them; 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 249 

witness the scene which took place a few years 
since in a public menagerie of London ; where 
a company of musketeers was introduced, in or- 
der to subdue a single individual of this species, 
which had become infuriated from accidental 
circumstances! Or, lastly, had the elephant 
been as prolific as the swine, (and it should be 
observed that they are branches of the same 
natural order,) how could the increased num- 
bers of individuals have been maintained, in the 
case of a species which is not naturally capable 
of emigrating to a different climate ? 

sect. in. 

The Camel 

Of all animals, the camel perhaps is most 
exactly adapted both to those peculiar regions 
of the earth in which it is principally, if not 
exclusively, found ; and to those purposes for 
which it is usually employed by man : to whose 
wants indeed it is so completely accommodated, 
and apparently so incapable of existing without 
his superintendence, that while on the one hand 
we find the camel described in the earliest re- 
cords of history, and in every subsequent pe- 
riod, as in a state of subjugation to man, and 
employed for precisely the same purposes as at 
the present day ; on the other hand, it does not 
appear that the species has ever existed in a 
wild or independent state. 



250 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



With scarcely any natural means of defence, 
and nearly useless in the scheme of creation, 
(as far as we can judge,) unless as the slave of 
man, it forms a remarkable parallel to the 
sheep, the ox, and other of the ruminating spe- 
cies ; which are also rarely, if ever, found, but 
under the protection of man, and to that protec- 
tion alone are indebted, indeed, for their exist- 
ence as a distinct species. Let us compare then 
the form, and structure, and moral qualities of 
the camel, with the local character of the re- 
gions in which it is principally found; and with 
the nature of the services exacted of it by man. 

The sandy deserts of Arabia are the classical 
country of the camel ; but it is also extensively 
employed in various other parts of Asia, and in 
the north of Africa: and the constant commu- 
nication that exists between the tribes which 
border on the intervening sea of sand, could 
only be maintained by an animal possessing 
such qualities as characterize the camel — " the 
" ship of the desert," as it has emphatically 
been called. Laden with the various kinds of 
merchandise which are the object of commerce 
in that region of the world, and of which a part 
often passes from the most easterly countries of 
Asia to the extreme limits of western Europe, 
and from thence even across the Atlantic to 
America, this extraordinary animal pursues its 
steady course over burning sands during many 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 251 

successive weeks. And not only is it satisfied 
with the scanty herbage which it gathers by 
the way; but often passes many days without 
meeting with a single spring of water in which 
to slake its thirst. 

In explanation of its fitness as a beast of bur- 
den, for such desert tracts of sand, its feet and 
its stomach are the points in its structure which 
are principally calculated to arrest our atten- 
tion : and its feet are not less remarkably ac- 
commodated to the road over which it travels, 
than is the structure of its stomach to the 
drought of the region through which that road 
passes. The foot of the camel, in fact, is so 
formed that the animal would be incapable of 
travelling, with any ease or steadiness, over 
either a rough or a stony surface ; and equally 
incapable is it of travelling for any long con- 
tinuance over moist ground, in consequence of 
the inflammation produced in its limbs from 
the effect of moisture. It is observed, by Cu- 
vier, that these circumstances in its physical 
history, and not the incapability of bearing a 
colder temperature, account for the fact, that, 
while the sheep, the ox, the dog, the horse, and 
some other species, have accompanied the mi- 
grations of man, from his aboriginal seat in cen- 
tral Asia to every habitable part of the globe, 
the camel still adheres to the desert. 

And now observe how its interior structure 



252 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



meets the difficulty of a region, where water is 
rarely found. As in the case of all other ani- 
mals which ruminate or chew the cud, the sto- 
mach of the camel consists of several compart- 
ments ; of which one is divided into numerous 
distinct cells, capable of collectively containing 
such a quantity of water, as is sufficient for 
the ordinary consumption of the animal during 
many days. And, as opportunities occur, the 
camel instinctively replenishes this reservoir ; 
and is thus enabled to sustain a degree of ex- 
ternal drought, which would be destructive to 
all other animals but such as have a similar 
structure : nor is any other animal of the old 
world known to possess this peculiar structure. 
But if we pass to the inhabited regions of the 
Andes in the new world, we there meet with 
several species of animals, as the lama, the 
vigogna, and the alpaca, which, though much 
smaller than the camel, correspond generally 
in their anatomy with that animal, and particu- 
larly with reference to the structure of the sto- 
mach : they resemble also the camel in docility ; 
and, to complete the parallel, they were em- 
ployed by the aboriginal inhabitants in the new 
world for the same purposes as the camel in 
the old. 

Of the two species of camel, the Bactrian and 
Arabian, the latter is that with the history of 
which we are best acquainted; and though 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 253 



there is reason to believe, that, whatever is said 
of the qualities of the one might with truth be 
affirmed of the other also, on the present occa- 
sion whatever is said is referable to the Arabian 
species °. The camel, then, not only consumes 
less food than the horse, but can sustain more 
fatigue. A large camel is capable of carrying 
from seven to twelve hundred weight, and tra- 
velling with that weight on its back, at the rate 
of above ten leagues in each day. The small 
courier camel, carrying no weight, will travel 
thirty leagues in each day, provided the ground 
be dry and level. Individuals of each variety 
will subsist for eight or ten successive days on 
dry thorny plants ; but after this period require 
more nutritious food, which is usually supplied 
in the form of dates and various artificial pre- 
parations : though, if not so supplied, the camel 
will patiently continue its course, till nearly 
the whole of the fat, of which the boss on its 

° The Bactrian species, which has two bosses on its back, is 
more peculiar to Tartary and northern Asia. The Arabian, 
which has only one boss, is not confined to the country from 
which it is named, but is the same species with that which pre- 
vails in northern Africa. As in the case of all domesticated 
animals the varieties of these two species are numerous : and it 
is a variety of the Arabian species, of a small height, to which 
the ancients gave the name of dromedary, from its employment 
as a courier: but in the magnificent work of St. Hilaire and 
Cuvier, (Hist. Nat. des Manimiferes,) the term dromedary is 
adopted, in a specific sense, for all the varieties of the Arabian 
camel. 



254 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



back consists, is absorbed; whereby that pro- 
tuberance becomes, as it were, obliterated. 

The camel is equally patient of thirst as of 
hunger : and this happens, no doubt, in conse- 
" quence of the supply of fluid which it is capable 
of obtaining from the peculiar reservoir con- 
tained in its stomach. It possesses moreover a 
power and delicacy in the sense of smell, (to that 
sense at least such a power is most naturally 
referable,) by which, after having thirsted for 
seven or eight days, it perceives the existence 
of water at a very considerable distance : and it 
manifests this power by running directly to the 
point where the water exists. It is obvious that 
this faculty is exerted as much to the benefit of 
their drivers, and the whole suite of the caravan, 
as of the camels themselves. 

Such are some of the leading advantages de- 
rived to man from the physical structure and 
powers of this animal : nor are those advantages 
of slight moment which are derived from its 
docile and patient disposition. It is no slight 
advantage, for instance, considering the great 
height of the animal, which usually exceeds six 
or seven feet, that the camel is easily taught to 
bend down its body on its limbs, in order to be 
laden : and, indeed, if the weight to be placed 
on its back be previously so distributed, as to 
be balanced on an intervening yoke of a con- 
venient form, it will spontaneously direct its 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 255 

neck under the yoke, and afterwards transfer 
the weight to its back. St. Hilaire and Cuvier, 
from whom the substance of much of the pre- 
ceding account is taken, assert, that, if after 
having laid down and received the intended 
freight, the camel should find it inconveniently 
heavy, it will not rise till a part has been taken 
off ; and that, when fatigued by long travel, it 
will proceed more readily and easily if the 
driver sing some familiar tune. This however 
is a quality not peculiar to the camel. 

Considered only thus far in its history, the 
camel easily stands preeminent, as the most 
useful, among all the species of ruminating ani- 
mals, in the bodily or mechanical services which 
it renders to man : it is almost indeed the rival 
of the horse, even when compared in a general 
point of view ; but more than its rival in its par- 
ticular arena, the desert. The reindeer assists 
the individual wants of the Laplander by con- 
veying his sledge over the frozen surface of the 
snow : and the ox, on a more enlarged scale of 
labour, is employed in some countries in plough- 
ing, or in the draught of heavy weights : but 
the camel was from time immemorial, up to a 
comparatively recent period, almost the sole 
intermedium of the principal part of the com- 
merce of the whole world. Thus the spices and 
other rich merchandise of the East, being brought 
to the confines of Arabia, were conveyed on the 



256 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



backs of camels across the desert, and thence 
finding their way to the trading cities of Phe- 
nicia, while they yet flourished — and subse- 
quently, after their destruction or decay, to 
Alexandria — they were distributed over the con- 
tinent of Europe ; enriching whole nations by 
the profits of the mere transfer : for thus Venice 
became not only the mistress of the Adriatic 
and Mediterranean, but in a measure the arbi- 
tress of the whole world — 

44 And such she was ; —her daughters had their dowers 

44 From spoils of nations, and the exhaustless East 

Ci Pour'd in her lap all gems in sparkling showers. 

4£ In purple was she robed, and of her feast 

44 Monarchs partook, and deemed their dignity increased P." 

And when, in consequence of the discovery 
of the Cape of Good Hope, Alexandria ceased 
to be the main emporium of India and Europe, 
Venice declined in its riches and power ; and 
the Portuguese, the Dutch, and lastly the Eng- 
lish, acquired the political influence which Ve- 
nice had lost : so true is the observation of sir 
William Temple, that whatever nation is in pos- 
session of the commerce of India must neces- 
sarily have a preponderating influence in the 
affairs of the whole world % 

But, although the route by the Cape has in a 

p Childe Harold, Canto IV. Stanza 2. 

q. For an account of the traffick between India and Europe, 
see Niebuhr, Descript. de 1' Arable, p. 246, &c. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 257 



great measure superseded that by Alexandria, 
the commercial intercourse carried on by means 
of the camel between opposite confines of the 
African and Asiatic deserts is still sufficiently 
extensive to make the importance of that ani- 
mal very considerable : so that even now, as 
ages and ages since, the riches of an individual 
are estimated by the number of camels he may 
possess : and he still uses his camels either in 
war, or for the transport of merchandize, or for 
the purpose of selling them r . 

But it would be found, upon pursuing the 
history of the camel, that, while under the point 
of view which has been just considered, this 
animal contributes more largely to the advan- 
tages of mankind than any other species of the 
ruminating order, it scarcely is inferior to any 
one of those species with respect to other advan- 
tages on account of which they are principally 

r It cannot be considered an irrelevant, and certainly not in 
itself an uninteresting digression, here to observe, that there 
was a period in the commercial history of England, within the 
last century even, when the horse served the purpose in this 
island, which the camel serves in Arabia and other parts of 
the world: and a distinct trade then existed, that of the packer ; 
the occupation of which was to make up bales of goods in a 
form convenient for carriage on the back of the pack-horse ; 
and the trace of that mode of conveyance is still to be recog- 
nised in the sign of many inns in those parts of England 
where that mode of conveyance was prevalent. The same mode 
of conveyance is still very extensively employed in the north- 
eastern parts of the Russian dominions. 

S 



« 



258 ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 

valuable. Thus the Arab obtains from the 
camel not only milk and cheese and butter, 
but he ordinarily also eats its flesh, and fabri- 
cates its hair into clothing of various kinds. 
The very refuse indeed of the digested food of 
the animal is the principal fuel of the desert ; 
and from the smoke of this fuel is obtained the 
well-known substance called sal ammoniac, which 
is very extensively employed in the arts ; and 
of which indeed, formerly, the greater part met 
with in commerce was obtained from this source 
alone, as may be implied from its very name 8 . 

SECT. IV. 
Domestication qf Animals. 

Nature has implanted a disposition in almost 
all animals to be domesticated by man ; and 
also a capability of becoming adapted to the 
various climates into which they accompany 
him ; and this disposition and adaptation neces- 
sarily extend the utility of these animals. There 
is, moreover, a consequent effect of domestica- 
tion which is obvious to the commonest ob- 
server ; and which extends still further the 
benefits arising from the practice. In a state 
of nature, almost all the individuals of the same 
species of animals have, at any given period of 

s Amnion or Hammon, which is the name of that part of the 
African desert situate to the west of Egypt, supplied formerly- 
much of the sal ammoniac of commerce. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 259 

their life, so close a resemblance to each other 
in form, size, and colour, that it is difficult to 
distinguish them at a little distance : but when- 
ever any species has been long domesticated, or 
subjugated to the dominion of man, we usually 
find a proportional variety in those points. In 
proof of the foregoing assertion it will be suffi- 
cient to make a comparison between wild and 
tame rabbits : or between the domestic and wild 
cat ; and to refer to the differences observable 
in all those animals which are constantly under 
the care of man, as the horse, the dog, and 
the ox. 

The alteration which is produced in such 
cases, and which depends partly on climate 
and food and general regimen , but still more on 
the intermixture of the breed, is in many in- 
stances of the highest utility to man. Suppose 
for a moment that, in the case of the horse, any 
one of the existing varieties, the dray-horse for 
instance, or the Shetland pony, were from hence- 
forth to determine the permanent character of 
the species ; and observe what would be the 
consequence. What a waste of power, and what 
an inconvenient increase of trouble and ex- 
pense, both with respect to stable-room and 
food, would there be in using the dray-horse, 
where the Shetland pony would be sufficient ; 
and, on the other hand, how ill would the Shet- 
land pony supply the place of the dray-horse, 

s2 



260 . ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 

where enormous weights were to be set in 
motion ! 

Again, in the case of the dog, were all other 
varieties of this most useful animal to be anni- 
hilated, and only one form to prevail, its value 
would be proportionally lessened. If no variety 
of the dog existed but the small spaniel or the 
terrier, the miserable inhabitant of the north 
could no longer travel over his native tracts of 
frozen snow : nor could the victim of Alpine 
frost in Switzerland be hereafter rescued from a 
premature death, as he often now is, by the sa- 
gacity and strength of the mastiffs of that region. 
And, in another element, how many a life, which 
must have been otherwise lost, has been saved 
from a watery grave by the joint sagacity and 
powerful strength of the Newfoundland dog ! 
What would the shepherd do without the assist- 
ance which he now derives from his faithful 
companion? Instead of that compact phalanx 
which we have often seen advancing over the 
distant downs, under the direction of the shep- 
herd's dog ; and from time to time, in obedience 
to its intelligent commander, still altering its di- 
rection in advancing, as steadily as a ship in 
sail obeys the helm ; we should see a confused 
and scattered multitude, which all the shepherd's 
skill and activity could hardly restore to order. 

Nor let me be accused of inhumanity if I here 
instance the assistance which is given to man 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 261 

by those varieties of the dog which are princi- 
pally used in the chase. Those feelings, which 
would spare the inferior animals unnecessary 
pain, are ever to be respected in others and 
cherished in ourselves ; as those feelings which 
delight in cruelty are to be abhorred : but un- 
doubtedly the desire of inflicting pain is not the 
incentive to the pleasures of the chase ; and 
therefore, with reference to himself, the hunter 
is free from the charge of cruelty. With respect 
to the animal which is the object of the chase, 
the charge of cruelty is reasonably obviated by 
this highly probable consideration, that man 
can hardly inflict on the weaker animals a 
more cruel death than that, to which they are 
obnoxious by the very law of nature : for, ulti- 
mately, they will almost necessarily be hunted 
and destroyed by beasts of prey ; or, if you sup- 
pose them to die either of disease or of old age, 
what misery must they not undergo in enduring 
this latter period of their life ! In fact, unless in 
the case of acute disease, the occurrence of which 
in wild animals there is reason to think is ex- 
tremely rare, they must, through mere helpless- 
ness, perish by hunger. 

An ethical discussion is to be avoided on the 
present occasion; and I shall only therefore ob- 
serve, that, with respect to the infliction of pain 
on the inferior animals, in the particular ease 
now under consideration, the grand question is 

s .'3 



262 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



the consequent effect on our own moral feelings r . 
If we are conscious that we are inflicting pain, 
we shall do right to abstain from what otherwise 
would be an innocent amusement ; for such ab- 
stinence will be a legitimate extension of the 
scriptural precept, " A righteous man regardeth 
" the life of his beast :" and if, by neglecting 
the suggestions of our original feelings, we have 
blunted the edge of the moral sense, doubtless 
we are culpable in a high degree. And this 
probably was the case in the gladiatorial exhi- 
bitions of antiquity ; and is equally the case in 
the disgusting exhibitions of the bull-fight in 
Spain, and the more vulgar and not less dis- 
gusting spectacle of pugilistic engagements, or 
baiting of the bull, in our own country. But, 
omitting such palpably indefensible sports, it 
doubtless may be affirmed as a general truth, 
that the amusements of hunting or of fishing 
are not accompanied by any consciousness of a 
wanton infliction of pain. And, although the 
occasionally concomitant habits of such sports 
may eventually blunt the benevolent feelings of 
our nature, we have not the least evidence that 

1 The same observation is applicable to philosophical experi- 
ments on living animals ; respecting experiments of which na- 
ture Shakspeare justly observes,, 

. . . . " Your highness 
" Shall from this practice but make hard your heart." 

Cymbel. Act I. Sc. 6. 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 263 

there is a necessary tendency in those amuse- 
ments to produce that lamentable effect. There 
then remains, in support of the propriety of such 
amusements, the argument from the healthiness 
of the stimulus which they communicate to the 
mind as well as to the body; thus invigorating 
both : while they act as a present recreation, 
which in some shape or other is required by all. 
But if the pursuit of smaller and weaker animals 
should appear objectionable to any one, there 
still remain, in other countries at least if not in 
this, the wolf, the wild boar, and the tiger : and 
in subduing these, to which no one will probably 
object, the dog lends most effectual assistance 
to man. He is indeed of all animals the most 
undaunted and courageous. Mr. Burchell, who 
during his long residence in southern Africa had 
frequent opportunities of witnessing the charac- 
ter of this faithful guardian of man, has asserted 
to the author of this treatise, that he has, again 
and again, seen the fiercest and strongest animals 
shrink from the defiance of the dog; but he never 
saw the dog shrink from the defiance of any 
other animal.' 1 

u Linnaeus, in enumerating the characters of the lion, makes, 
by implication, a somewhat similar observation with respect to 
the dog. " Leo esuriens pncdatur equis et aliis majoribus 
" animalibus ; — canibiis cocrcclur." (Linn. System. Gmelin. 
torn. i. p. 76.) 

a 4 



264 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



SECT. V. 
Animals as a Source of Food for Man. 
Although the inhabitants of very warm cli- 
mates live principally and often entirely on vege- 
tables ; in the colder climates animal food usually 
makes a part of the daily sustenance of all who 
are not oppressed by poverty: and nature has 
not only provided amply for this want, but has 
afforded the easiest means of supplying it. The 
disposition of those animals, which afford the 
great bulk of the supply that is required, as the 
sheep, the ox, and the swine, is such, that they 
are not only disposed to live gregariously, but 
are readily brought under obedience, so as to be 
inoffensive either to the person or property of 
man: and their docility in this respect is parti- 
cularly worthy of our attention, because, from 
the observations of M. Frederic Cuvier, (Mem. 
du Mus. torn. xiii. p. 419, 420), it appears that 
herbivorous animals are not, as is generally sup- 
posed, naturally more mild and tractable than 
the carnivorous ; in fact they are by nature less 
mild and tractable. 

The flesh of all those species, which have been 
above mentioned, is, generally speaking, accept- 
able to the human palate ; and is in a great 
measure necessary to the support of those who 
are habitually exposed to great exertions and fa- 
tigue : but there are many occasions on which 
such food could not with any convenience be ob- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 265 

tained, even by those to whom the expense is 
not a matter of any consideration. In situations 
for instance which are far removed from any 
town, there are very few, with the exception of 
the possessors of extensive landed property, who 
can be conveniently supplied with animal food 
from their own flocks and herds : and in the 
case of the crews of ships, which are accustomed 
to make long voyages, it would be utterly impos- 
sible to find room in any vessel for such a num- 
ber of live animals, and still less for the food 
which those animals would require, as would be 
competent to supply the daily consumption of 
all on board. But in all these instances the dif- 
ficulty is obviated by the preservative quality of 
common salt : for we know that, by the aid of 
salted provisions, guarded by the regular use of 
vegetable acids, a ship's crew may be maintained 
in good health for an indefinite length of time. 

And then, with reference to the general ques- 
tion, there are almost all the herbivorous species 
of birds, together with the auxiliary supply of 
their eggs ; and those numerous species both of 
river and of sea fish, which contribute very largely 
to the support of the human race, not solely by 
affording food, but by affording a lucrative em- 
ployment to the fisherman. I omit the consi- 
deration of the turtle, the lobster, the prawn, the 
oyster, and a few other species ; because the ag- 
gregate consumption of such kind of food is com- 



266 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



paratively small ; and those animals, as articles 
of food, may be considered rather as luxuries 
than necessaries. 

Of the animals which supply us with food, the 
flesh or muscular fibre is that part which is most 
acceptable to the palate : and it is worthy of con- 
sideration that the flesh of those animals, of whose 
living services we stand hourly in need, as the 
horse and the dog, are so unpalatable that we 
are not tempted to eat them unless in cases of 
dreadful necessity. Many individuals however, 
through poverty, are content, and some by pecu- 
liarity of taste are inclined, to feed on the lungs or 
liver, or other of the viscera of animals. And mo- 
dern researches and experiments have taught us 
that even the bones may be rendered digestible, 
either by the effect of long boiling under a high 
degree of artificial pressure, as in the apparatus 
called Papiris Digester, or in consequence of 
the removal of their earthy basis by means of 
any convenient acid ; and we have also learnt, 
from similar sources, that common saw-dust, by 
certain chemical processes, may be made nutri- 
tious : but we may fairly argue, from the pro- 
visional care of nature, that mankind will never 
be generally reduced to such circuitous means 
of obtaining their necessary food. In the mean 
time we may console ourselves with the reflection, 
that in the event of any temporary or local diffi- 
culty, we may find a supply of food where ante- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 267 

cedently to the researches above mentioned we 
should never have dreamed of looking for it. 
Vitruvius mentions, in speaking of the construc- 
tion of garden walks, that the fragments of char- 
coal, which were a common substratum of such 
walks, had occasionally afforded a most import- 
ant magazine of fuel in a protracted siege : 
and in such an emergency the bones of animals 
might continue a supply of food, after the flesh 
had been eaten. 

SECT. VI. 

Manufacture of Sal Ammoniac. 

Even in the present abundance of animal food 
the refuse is not wasted ; and all that is thrown 
aside, as unpalatable or indigestible, is subse- 
quently collected, for the purpose of obtaining 
a material, very extensively employed and of 
considerable value in the arts, known familiarly 
under the name of sal ammoniac. Perhaps in 
the whole circle of the arts there is scarcely any 
process more interesting, if all the attendant 
circumstances be considered, than the fabrica- 
tion of this substance : and the interest princi- 
pally arises from this peculiarity in the nature 
of the process, that, among the numerous pro- 
ducts which are evolved in its different stages, 
there is scarcely one which is not sufficiently 
useful to prevent the necessity of its being 
thrown away. 



268 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



Any one, who is in the habit of walking much 
in the streets of London, will frequently see 
some half-clothed wretched individual stooping 
down and holding open an apron, into which 
he throws from time to time pieces of broken 
bone and other offal, which he has disengaged 
from the interstices of the stones that form the 
carriage pavement. The unsightly load thus 
obtained is conveyed to the sal ammoniac ma- 
nufactory ; and when a sufficient mass of bones 
has been accumulated from this and other 
sources, they are thrown into a cauldron of 
water, and are boiled for the purpose of clearing 
them of the grease with which they are en- 
veloped : which grease, subsequently collected 
from the surface of the water on which it floats, 
is employed in the composition of soap. 

The bones thus cleaned are thrown into large 
retorts, surrounded by burning fuel, and sub- 
mitted to the process called destructive distilla- 
tion; whereby, in consequence of the applica- 
tion of a sufficient degree of heat, the matter 
of the bone is resolved into its constituent ele- 
ments, from which new compounds are formed. 
Of these, some pass off in the state of vapour 
or gas, while the fixed principles remain in the 
retort. 

Among the more remarkable products which 
pass off are carbonic acid gas, commonly known 
by the name of fixed air ; and various combina- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 269 

tions of hydrogen and carbon, forming different 
kinds of inflammable air ; together with water 
holding carbonate of ammonia (salt of hartshorn) 
in solution ; and a peculiar oil. Of these pro- 
ducts, the fixed air and inflammable air are 
disregarded, and suffered to escape. The oil 
is employed to feed lamps placed in small 
chambers, the sides of which become incrusted 
with the smoke arising from the combustion : 
which smoke being collected, becomes an ar- 
ticle of sale under the name of lamp black; a 
substance of considerable importance as the 
basis of printing ink, &c. 

It would be tedious, and uninteresting to the 
general reader, to describe all the intermediate 
steps of the process : and it is sufficient for the 
present purpose to state that, towards the con- 
clusion of it, two new compounds are formed, 
namely muriate of ammonia and sulphate of 
soda : of which the sulphate of soda is separated 
by the process of crystallization, and is sold to 
the druggists under the common name of Glau- 
ber s salt; and the muriate of ammonia, (sal am- 
moniac,) the great object of the whole manu- 
facture, is finally obtained in a separate state 
by the process called sublimation, 

The form of the bones, submitted to destruc- 
tive distillation in this process, is not altered ; 
and the unvolatized mass, remaining in the re- 
torts, consists of the earthy and saline matter of 



270 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



these bones, blackened by the carbon which is 
evolved from their animal matter. Exposure to 
an open fire drives off this carbon, and leaves 
the bones still unaltered in form, but nearly 
blanched : and these bones, subsequently re- 
duced to powder, and mixed with a sufficient 
quantity of water to give them the requisite 
degree of consistence, are formed into vessels, 
which are employed in the process of refining 
gold and silver. 

It was stated that, during the destructive dis- 
tillation of bone, the carbonic acid and inflam- 
mable gases are suffered to escape : but of these 
the latter might be employed in supplying light 
to gas burners ; and then, out of the numerous 
products of the complicated process which I 
have been describing, the carbonic acid would 
be the only substance not employed for some 
useful purpose. 

SECT. VII. 

Animals as a Source of Clothing, fyc. for Man. 

The utility of many of those animals which 
supply us with food does not terminate in merely 
that adaptation of them to human wants. From 
the same animals we are supplied with clothing 
also (but this service, indeed, they render to us 
in common with various other animals which 
are unfit for food) ; and, according to the dif- 
ferent states of civilization in which mankind 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 271 

exists, that clothing is more or less artificially 
prepared. Thus while the African or Australian 
savage scarcely protects his body from exposure 
by a partial covering of leaves, or the inner 
bark of trees ; and the Esquimaux envelopes 
his body in the undressed skin of the seal which 
he has recently killed, supplying also the sepa- 
rate coverings of his head and feet and hands 
from the same source ; the poorest peasant of 
any civilized part of Europe derives his clothing 
not only from one but many different species 
of animals ; to say nothing of those occasional 
parts of his dress which are obtained from the 
vegetable and mineral kingdom. The ox, the 
dog, the sheep, the beaver or the rabbit, and 
the silk-worm, in almost every instance contri- 
bute their direct contingent to the apparel of the 
humblest individual of Europe, who is not abso- 
lutely a mendicant : and, with reference to the 
dress and ornamental appendages of individuals 
of more elevated rank, to the animals already 
mentioned may be added the deer, the goat, the 
camel, the elephant, the ermine, and numerous 
other animals which supply the various and rich 
furs of commerce; the ostrich, and many other 
birds ; and even the tortoise, the oyster, and the 
puny architect of the more beautiful species of 
coral. 

Nor are the advantages which mankind derive 
from the animal kingdom, with reference t<> ge- 



272 



ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 



neral commerce and the arts and economical 
purposes of life, of less importance than the 
foregoing. How many different substances, as 
leather, and parchment, and glue ; and what 
various instruments, either for common use, or 
ornament or amusement, are manufactured from 
skin and horn, and bone and ivory! With re- 
spect to the last mentioned of which substances 
indeed, it is a highly interesting fact, that the 
world has not been supplied with it solely from 
the two still existing species of elephant, but 
also, and in a very large proportion, from the 
extinct and fossil species. Under the name of 
licorne fossile, the tusks of the extinct species 
have for ages been an object of commerce in the 
Russian dominions : and M. Pallas describes 
the abundance of these fossil tusks to be such, 
that they are found in every direction through- 
out the greater part of north-eastern Russia. 

If we only consider the amount of the con- 
sumption of wax and honey, of what importance 
is not that little insect the bee : and the same 
observation may be made with reference to the 
silk- worm and the coccineal ! 

Lastly, for it is necessary to bring the present 
subject to a close, what immense advantages 
accrue to commerce and navigation from the 
traffick in even a very few species of fish, as the 
whale, the cod, the herring, and the pilchard! so 
great indeed are those advantages, that the ques- 



TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. 273 

tion of the right of fishery on a particular coast 
has sometimes been the occasion of involving 
the most powerful nations in expensive wars : 
for these fisheries, at the same time that they 
are a source of immense riches to individuals, 
constitute as it were a nursery for the hardiest 
race of sailors ; and thus become of the highest 
importance in a national point of view. 



CHAP. X. 

Adaptation of the external World to the Exercise 
of the Intellectual Faculties of Man. 
SECT. L 

On the Rise and Progress of Human Knoidcdge. 

IN the preceding part of this treatise the phy- 
sical character and condition of man were first 
considered ; and, afterwards, the adaptation of 
external nature to the supply of his bodily wants. 
It remains for us to consider the adaptation of 
the various objects of the material world to the 
exercise of his intellectual faculties. 

But, in contemplating the connexion which 
exists between the external world and the exer- 
cise of the mind of man, who shall attempt to 
describe the nature and boundaries of that yet 
unmeasured plain of knowledge, in which man 
is constantly either intellectually expatiating, 6r 
practically exerting himself? who, without wan- 
daring into the mazes of metaphysical specular 
tion — always amusing in the pursuit, but never, 

T 



274 



EXERCISE OF THE 



perhaps, satisfactory in the result — who shall (le- 
vel ope the obscure steps by which science first 
finds access to the mind ? In reflecting indeed 
on the state of civilized society during its earlier 
periods, there is nothing more wonderful in the 
intellectual history of mankind, than the skilful 
management of many processes in the arts, the 
true nature of which was not understood till ages 
and ages afterwards. Thus, although zinc was 
scarcely known as a distinct metal till about a 
century since ; and, almost within the same pe- 
riod, one of its commonest ores, calamine, was 
held in so little estimation in Great Britain that 
it was frequently used merely as ballast for ship- 
ping, (Watson's Essays, vol. iv. p. 6.); yet that 
same ore was used before the time of Aristotle 
for the purpose of making brass, and to that 
purpose is principally applied at the present 
day. The process also of making wine was 
known in the earliest periods of history; al- 
though the principles on which it is produced 
were not well understood till a few years since. 

Another remarkable fact in the history of 
human science, which, though frequently ob- 
served, has not yet been explained, is the oc- 
casional arrest of its progress at a point imme- 
diately bordering on discoveries which did not 
take place till many ages subsequently 11 . This 

u The substance of the following note, though not directly il- 
lustrative of the subject now under consideration, is not irrele- 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



275 



may be affirmed, in a certain sense at least, with 
respect to glass : for this substance, though very 
early discovered, hardly came into general use 
for ordinary purposes till comparatively a very 
late period. But a more remarkable instance 
occurs with respect to the art of printing : and 
whoever looks at the stereotype stamps, as they 
may be called, which have been discovered at 
Herculaneum, and other places, will be disposed 
to allow that the embryo of the art of printing 
died, as it were, in the birth x . 

vant to it ; and is sufficiently curious in itself to justify its in- 
troduction to the notice of the reader. 

In Dr. Thomson's Annals of Philosophy for 1817, p- 149, is 
an account of a paper read at the Royal Society, relative to some 
experiments made on torpedoes at Rochelle, in which it is stated 
that, where torpedoes abound, boys are in the habit of playing 
the following trick to those who are not in the secret. They 
persuade the ignorant boy to pour water in a continued stream 
upon the torpedo ; and the consequence is, that an electrical 
shock is conveyed, along the stream, to the body of the boy. 

Plutarch notices the same fact in almost the same terms. "It 
" is affirmed by those," he says, " who have often made the ex- 
" periment, that, in pouring water on alive torpedo, the hand of 
" the person who is pouring the water will be sensible of a shock, 
" which has apparently been conveyed through the water to his 
" hand." "Evioi 8e loropovai, nelpav avrrjs eTfinXtov Xupftdvovres, 
av eKneai] (oxra (Nu/jk?;, the Torpedo), KaTaorKeSavvvvres vbo>p dvvOev, 
ai(T0dv€O-0aL rod irdOovs dvarpexovros iit\ ttjv X e 'P a > Kai T h v acprjv dp- 
I3\vuovtos, a>s eoi/cf, did tuv vSaros Tptiropivov kcu TrpcmtizovOoTos . 

Plut. Moralia, Oxon. 4to, 17^7; tom ' 1V - V- ( ^43, 644. 
x A very interesting conjectural account of the origin and 
progress of the arts, and of social life, occurs in the last part of 
the fifth book of Lucretius. 

T 2 



276 



EXERCISE OF THE 



In order that the external world may be fitted 
to the just exercise of our intellectual faculties, 
it is evidently necessary that its phenomena 
should be presented to our senses with a certain 
degree of regularity. This is a condition so 
obvious to a mind capable of reflection, that we 
find it inculcated, almost in the same terms, by 
two writers of the most opposite views as to the 
causes of those phenomena. Thus Lucretius 
asserts, that the sun and moon, by the constant 
returns of their light and by the regularity of 
their course, afford to mankind an assurance 
that day and night, and the various seasons of 
the year, will recur not only in a definite order, 
but also for definite periods of duration v . And 
thus also, but in language and imagery more 
elevated, and with a sublime acknowledgment 
of the cause, as well as a declaration of the fact, 
the author of the 19th Psalm affirms, that " the 
" heavens declare the glory of God, and the 
" firmament sheweth his handy work. Day unto 
" day uttereth speech, and night unto night 
" sheweth knowledge." 

But it is also necessary to the just exercise of 
our intellectual faculties, that the senses of men 
in general should be similarly affected, when 
acted on by the same causes : for otherwise 
there would be no stability in our knowledge, 
as derived from these its most fertile sources, 
y Lib. V. 971—979, and 1435—1438. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



277 



And though, from a peculiarity in original con- 
stitution, or from the effect of disease, the sen- 
sations of particular individuals may differ, not 
only in degree but in kind, from those of the 
world at large ; the error is of no moment, since 
it may at once be corrected by a reference to 
the common sense of mankind. 

If any one should too curiously object that 
there can be no direct proof of a similarity of 
impression, from the same object, on the senses of 
men in general ; it might be answered, that nei- 
ther is there any direct proof to the contrary : 
while we have many antecedent reasons for be- 
lieving that there really is such a similarity of 
impression. The structure for instance of the 
several organs, of taste, smell, hearing, and 
sight, is essentially the same in all individuals ; 
and the functions of those organs may therefore 
be presumed to be the same : and from the si- 
milarity of the natural expression of disgust, 
which peculiar odours and flavours usually ex- 
cite in numerous individuals, it cannot be rea- 
sonably doubted that their respective senses are 
similarly affected by those agents. 

If, again, any one should further object that 
we can have no absolutely firm ground for a re- 
liance on the senses themselves, it might fairly 
be answered, that although, from the time of 
Pyrrho to that of Berkeley, there have been 
always speculative sceptics with respect to the 

t 3 



278 



EXERCISE OF THE 



testimony of the senses, there probably has 
never been a practical sceptic on that point. 
It is stated in the life of Pyrrho by Diogenes 
Laertius, that though that philosopher asserted 
the nonexistence of matter, and pretended there- 
fore to universal indifference, he was sometimes 
overcome by his feelings, and would then act as 
other men act on such occasions ; and, when 
reminded of the inconsequence of his conduct 
with reference to his doctrine, he would excuse 
himself by asserting, that it is difficult entirely 
to put off human nature, (ag %aAe?rov e«? oXwjfcp&$ 
efSvvdi avSpavov) : and it must be confessed that, in 
this apology, he offered the best comment on the 
character of his doctrine. And most philosophi- 
cally does Lucretius 2 argue, in noticing the ap- 
parent modifications of form which bodies un- 
dergo, in consequence of being viewed at dif- 
ferent distances, that, although no satisfactory 
reason can be given of the real cause of the illu- 
sion, it is preferable to assign a false reason, 
rather than, by a consequent want of reliance 
on our senses, to overturn those foundations of 
all belief, on which our safety and life depend. 

We have seen, in the course of the foregoing 
inquiry, how extensively the various objects of 
the material world are applicable to the wants 
and conveniences of man in every stage of so- 
ciety ; and we cannot reasonably doubt that 
z Lib. IV. 502—512. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



279 



they were created for that, as a main purpose, 
among others to which they are subservient. 
Such at least was the conclusion of one of the 
greatest philosophers of antiquity; though un- 
aided by the direct light of revelation. " For 
" what purpose," asks Cicero, " was the great 
" fabric of the universe constructed ? was it 
44 merely for the purpose of perpetuating the 
" various species of trees and herbs, which are 
" not endued even with sensation ? — the supposi- 
44 tion is absurd. Or was it for the exclusive 
44 use of the inferior animals ! — it is not at all 
44 more probable that the Deity would have pro- 
44 duced so magnificent a structure for the sake 
44 of beings, which, although endued with sensa- 
44 tion, possess neither speech nor intelligence. 
44 For whom then was the world produced ? — 
44 doubtless for those beings who are alone en- 
44 dued with reason." ( 44 Sin quaerat quispiam, 
44 cujusnam causa tantarum rerum molitio facta 
44 sit : arborumne et herbarum ? qua?, quanquam 
44 sine sensu sunt, tamen a natura sustinentur ; 

at id (juidem absurdum est. An bestiaruin ! 
44 nihilo probabilius, Deos mutarum et nihil in- 
44 telligentium causa tantum laborasse. Quorum 
44 igitur causa quis dixerit effectum esse mun- 
44 dum ? Eorum scilicet animantium qua? ratione 
44 utuntur 3 .") Whether the earliest steps in the 
discovery of the arts of life depend on the effect 

a Cic. de Nat. Deor. lib. II. c. 53. 
T 4 



280 



EXERCISE OF THE 



of divine inspiration, of which the subject of 
that inspiration is unconscious — to which sup- 
position there does not appear any reasonable 
objection — or whether they result from the im- 
pulse of unassisted reason ; it would be fruitless 
to inquire : but it is interesting to contemplate 
the similarity of principle which seems to regu- 
late the discoveries of the useful properties of 
material substances 1 '. Man does not appear to 

b The following passages, one from Vitruvius, the other from 
Cicero, are applicable on the present occasion. " The Deity has 
" provided an abundant supply in every part of the world for 
" the necessary wants of man ; and has ordained that that sup. 
" ply shall be easily attainable : whereas those things which are 
" to be considered in the light of luxuries, as gold and precious 
" stones, are rarely met with, and are procured with difficulty." 
{" Igitur divina mens, quae proprie necessaria essent gentibus, 
" non constituit difficilia et cara ; uti sunt margaritee, caeteraque 
" quae nec corpus nec natura desiderat : sed sine quibus morta- 
<c lium vita non potest esse tuta, efFudit ad manum parata per 
" omnem mundum." Vitruv. Prefat. ad lib. viii.) " In vain 
" had nature created gold and silver, and copper and iron, un- 
<c less she had at the same time instructed mankind how to dis- 
" cover the repositories of those metals. And, again, in vain 
" had the material been adapted to our wants, unless we under- 
" stood the method of obtaining it in a separate and perfect 
" state." (" Aurum et argentum, ees, ferrum, frustra natura di- 
" vina genuisset, nisi eadem docuisset quemadmodum ad eorum 
* venas perveniretur — materia deinde quid juvaret, nisi confec- 
" tionis ejus fabricam haberemus ?" Cicero de Divinat. lib. i. 
c. 51.) The following passage from Isaiah gives authority to 
the preceding opinion : " Doth the plowman plow all day, to 
" sow ? doth he open and break the clods of his ground ? When 
" he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad 
ec the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



281 



possess that kind of instinct which leads him to 
the selection of a specific sort of material for 
his nourishment or clothing, or for the construc- 
tion of his habitation : but, in proportion as he 
feels new wants, he meditates on the means 
of gratifying them ; and usually perceives, with 
a quick eye, those qualities in external bodies, 
which make them capable of being fitted to the 
end he has in view. This power of perception 
is peculiarly characteristic of the intellectual 
faculties of man : and although the inferior ani- 
mals have, to a certain extent, the same power, 
with reference to their specific instincts, yet in 
them it is very limited. The nest of the same bird 
may be composed, in different years, of some- 
what different materials, according to the lati- 
tude of her choice ; but, with the exception of 
such a modification, she never varies from or 
improves upon the original plan : the compara- 
tively unsheltered hovel of the rook, for instance, 
is never improved into the comfortable cottage 
of the swallow. 

It is probably owing to the exercise of the 

" wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place? 
" For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach 
" him." Ch. xxviii. 24 — 2(5. And so, when Dr. Thomson 
considers it as " remarkable that almost all those metals which 
" were known to the ancients possess malleability," (Thomson's 
Chemistry, sixth edit. vol. i. p. 325.) it may with propriety be 
observed that those are exactly the metals, without which society 
could not have existed. 



282 



EXERCISE OF THE 



above mentioned power of perception in the 
human mind, that the instruments and arts 
of uncivilized life, observable at all periods of 
history and in all parts of the world, have such 
a general resemblance ; although, in the con- 
struction of the one, or the exercise of the other, 
there cannot have been any communication of 
knowledge. Compare, for instance, the stone 
arrow-heads and axes of the ancient Celtic na- 
tions, with the similar instruments of the inha- 
bitants of those islands of the Pacific Ocean 
which were not discovered till the last century. 
The following fact, and accompanying remark, 
may be mentioned, in illustration of the present 
part of the subject. Captain Beechey, in de- 
scribing a dead whale which had been wounded 
by an Esquimaux harpoon, having " a drag at- 
" tached, made of an inflated seal skin, which 
" had no doubt worried the animal to death," 
adds this pertinent observation. " Thus, with 
" knowledge just proportioned to their wants, 
" do these untutored barbarians, with their slen- 
" der boats and limited means, contrive to take 
" the largest animal of the creation." Voyage 
to the Pacific, p. 270 c . 

c The same author observes, in a short sketch of Upper Cali- 
fornia, that the natives cultivate no land, but subsist entirely 
e * by the chase and upon the spontaneous produce of the earth ; 
" acorns, of which there is a great abundance in the country, 
" constituting their principal vegetable food. Of these acorns 
' ' they procure a supply in the proper season ; and, after having 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



283 



It is probable, then, that there is an in- 
stinctive tendency in man to meditate on the 
nature and properties of those material objects 



objects and phenomena to his wants, whether 
of a necessary or an artificial character. Thus 
astronomy was originally cultivated with most 
success by those who lived in a climate in which 

tc baked them, they bruise them between two stones into a 
" paste which will keep unto the following season. The paste, 
" before it is dried, is subjected to several washings in a sieve ; 
" which process, they say, deprives it of the bitter taste com- 
" mon to the acorn. We cannot but remark the great resem- 

blance this custom bears to the method adopted by the South- 
" sea islanders to keep their bread-fruit : nor ought we to fail to 
" notice the manner in which Providence points out to different 
" tribes the same wise means of preserving their food, and pro- 
" viding against a season of scarcity." (p. 399.) A similar re- 
flection will naturally occur to the reader with respect to 
their mode of decoving deer and ducks : their plan, in the lat- 
ter instance, differing very little from our own ; in the former, 
being conducted on the principle of the stalking horse, (p. 399, 
400. See also De Brv, vol. i. pi. 25. Descript. of Florida.) 

On one occasion, in alluding to the structure of the bow 
among uncivilized nations, Captain Beechey forcibly reminds 
the classical reader of a line in the first book of the Iliad : 
deivrj 8e KkayyT) yever apyvptoio /3ioIo : for, after having said that 
the Californians string their bows much as we do (p. 402), he 
states that the Esquimaux leave the string in contact with about 
a foot of the wood at each end ; while the Californians mvffie 
that part with fur, in order to prevent the report, which would 
betray them, when fighting in ambush, (p. 575.) 




284 



EXERCISE OF THE 



an unclouded sky prevailed ; navigation, by 
those who lived on the borders of the ocean ; 
and the general arts of life, by those who in- 
habited regions characterised by the fertility of 
their soil, and the abundance and variety of 
their mineral productions. Of these positions, 
ancient Egypt, Phenicia, and India are re- 
spectively instances : though it is not intended 
to affirm that an unclouded sky is alone suffi- 
cient to produce a tendency towards the culti- 
vation, much less a national superiority in the 
science of astronomy ; nor a vicinity to the sea, 
an excellence in nautical skill ; nor, lastly, a 
fertile soil and abundance and variety of mi- 
neral riches, a correspondent skill in the general 
arts of life. In every instance it may be pre- 
sumed that civilization must have advanced 
sufficiently to have produced many artificial 
wants, before individuals feel that powerful 
stimulus which prompts them to take the full 
advantage of those resources which nature has 
placed within their reach. The miserable na- 
tives of New Holland, though inhabiting a coun- 
try as extensive, and in parts as fertile as 
Europe, have afforded no indications of an ap- 
proach towards that degree of civilization which 
would lead them to discover and apply its re- 
sources. 

But, though it would be a vain and useless 
speculation to inquire in what way the arts and 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



285 



sciences actually arose, or how it has happened 
that they were more or less successfully culti- 
vated by different nations, it cannot be either 
uninteresting or un instructive to compare the 
progress which natural science had made in 
Europe, at a period shortly antecedent to the 
Christian era, with the state in which it now 
exists : and such a comparison is in strict ac- 
cordance with the original intention of this 
treatise. The materials for this comparison, 
which will be attempted only on a plan the 
most general, have been principally derived 
from Lucretius, and from that work of Aristotle 
which is entitled, Hep} Zoom 'loroptas. It should be 
remembered, however, that there is a broad line 
of distinction between the mode in which na- 
tural science was cultivated by the ancients, 
and that Avhich has been adopted by the mo- 
derns. The ancients, though on many occasions 
as accurate observers of the obvious phenomena 
of nature as the moderns, were too hasty in 
coming to conclusions as to the character and 
cause of those phenomena ; and hence the crude 
opinions and theories with which their phi- 
losophy abounded. But, if we justly consider 
the precept of Thales, " Know thyself," as a pre- 
cept of the highest wisdom for our moral con- 
duct, we must, on equally strong grounds, con- 
sider it as the highest prerogative of reason, 
or our intellectual nature, to know the actual 



286 



EXERCISE OF THE 



extent of its own powers : and it is one of the 
glories of the philosophy of the present day, 
that, instead of being ashamed of its own limi- 
tations, and consequently prone to hurry into 
unfounded assumptions for the purpose of hid- 
ing its ignorance, it explicitly, and at once, 
acknowledges the point which for the present 
must be considered as a barrier to further pro- 
gress ; still however looking forward to the pe- 
riod when the increased accumulation of new 
facts shall enable it to remove that barrier. 

SECT. II. 

Opinions of Lucretius on the Constitution of Matter in 
general; and on the Nature of Light, Heat, Water, 
and Air. 

In attempting to explain the constitution of 
the universe, and the general phenomena of 
nature, Lucretius assumes that matter in its 
primary form consists of very small and im- 
penetrable particles, which, from their supposed 
incapability of further division, are called atoms; 
that, from the fortuitous concourse of these atoms, 
all natural bodies were originally produced ; and 
that into these they are again resolved by those 
common processes which we are constantly wit- 
nessing, as the death and consequent decom- 
position of vegetables and animals, and the 
wearing away of the most solid bodies by the 
effect of exposure to the air, or by the insensible 
attrition of other bodies : and, lastly, he main- 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 287 

tains that these atoms existed from eternity, 
and are in their essence indestructible. 

He asserts as untenable, in fair reasoning, the 
opinion that there is no term to the divisibility 
of matter ; since, on that supposition, the smallest 
bodies would consist of an infinite number of 
parts : and he consequently concludes that those 
indivisible bodies or atoms must be perfectly 
solid d . He impugns, as opposed to common 
sense, the doctrine of Heraclitus that all things 
are formed from fire e , and also the doctrine of 
others, that all things are formed from fire or 
air, or water or earth f ; or from binary combina- 
tions of them, as of air and tire, or of earth and 
water : and, lastly, he rejects also the doctrine of 
Empedocles, that all natural substances are pro- 
duced from the joint union of fire, earth, air, 
and water?. And Lucretius himself supposes 
that the original atoms of matter may, by a mere 
variation in the modes of combination, produce 
all the objects of nature, whether animate or 
inanimate ; illustrating his argument ingeniously 
by a reference to the fact, that an endless va- 
riety of words, of the most different meaning 
and sound, is produced by various combinations 
of the same letters 11 . 

It is not necessary, on the present occasion, 
to comment on the obviously atheistical charac- 

d Lucret. lib. I. passim. e Lib. I. 636—639, and GDI — 7<><>- 
'Lib. L 706— 712. s Lib. I. 713—71 7. h Lib. L 817—899. 



288 



EXERCISE OF THE 



ter of some of the opinions of Lucretius : but it 
may safely be affirmed that, although he strains 
the application of his general argument so as to 
support a belief in the eternity of matter, deny- 
ing equally its creation and destructibility ; yet 
the basis of his argument, if confined, as it ought 
to have been, to the existing constitution of the 
earth, rests on a legitimate induction from the 
phenomena of nature : for, certainly, there is no 
reason for believing that a particle of matter has 
either been lost or added to the earth or to the 
atmosphere, since their creation. And, in rea- 
soning from the mere phenomena, Lucretius 
justly asks, if every thing which disappears, in 
consequence of age and apparent decay, is 
actually destroyed, whence is there a renewal of 
animal or vegetable life ? how do rivers continue 
to flow 1 ? concluding with one of those beautiful 
illustrations, in which his poem abounds. " It 
" may be said perhaps, that the showers, which 
" sink into the earth and are lost to our sight, 
" apparently perish : but then, from their fer- 
" tilizing effects on the soil, and their subse- 
" quent incorporation with the growing seed, 
" the harvest rises, and the vine and fig-tree 
" flourish. Hence, moreover, animal life in 
" general derives its support ; the sportive lamb 
" hence draws its nutriment from its full-fed 
" mother, and wantons round the meads and 
i Lib. I. 226—232. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



289 



4 4 woods ; and hence those woods themselves 
" yearly resound with the melody of their na- 
* tive tenants. Nor does the effect stop here : 
" for we ourselves ultimately derive our sup- 
44 port from the same source ; and cities are 
" eventually peopled from the nutriment pro- 
44 duced by the very rain which we had fondly 
44 supposed to perish. But nothing really pe- 
44 rishes; nature producing new forms of matter, 
44 from the materials of those which have ap- 
44 parently been destroyed V 

It would appear, from a very remarkable 
passage in Lucretius, that some of the philo- 
sophers of his day entertained an opinion, which 
he himself however opposes, that there exists a 
universal law of gravitation, by which all bodies 
tend towards the earth as the centre of the uni- 
verse ; that, in consequence of this law, the bo- 
dies of those animals which inhabit the opposite, 
or, as it were, the inferior surface of the earth, 
are no more capable of falling into the sky 
which surrounds them, than the animals inha- 
biting our own, or, the relatively upper surface 
of the earth, are capable of rising into the sky 
which is placed above them. And, correspond- 
ently with the spherical form of the earth, which 
almost necessarily follows as a corollary from 
such an exposition of the law of gravitation, the 
same philosophers argued that, at the same mo- 
•< Lib. I. 251—265. 
u 



290 



EXERCISE OF THE 



ment when on the opposite surface it is day, 
with us it is night 1 . 

Although Lucretius, when speaking in general 
terms of the tendency of all heavy bodies to fall 
towards the earth, and of the acceleration of 
motion and increase of force which they acquire 
in falling, offers such an account of the facts as 
we might expect from his confused doctrine of 
atoms, and shews his ignorance of the real 
character of positive gravity ; yet of th e nature of 
relative or specific gravity, that is, of the cause 
why equal bulks of different bodies are of diffe- 
rent weights, he gives the true explanation, by 
asserting that the heaviest bodies contain most 
matter, and consequently have fewest pores 111 . 
That such pores exist not only in wool, and bo- 
dies of a similar texture, but even in those which 
are hard and compact, is proved, he affirms, by 
the percolation of water through the roofs of 
caverns ; and from the transmission of the food 
both of animals and plants into their extreme 
limbs and branches 11 . 

Lucretius considers light as a very subtle 
kind of matter, which, from its tenuity, is 
capable of inconceivably swift motion ; the ra- 
pidity of which motion he instances in its near- 
ly instantaneous diffusion through the whole 

i Lib. I. 1051—1065. 
to Lib.VI. 334—346. and lib. I. 359—370. 
» Lib. I. 347—354. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



291 



heaven . With respect to the connexion of light 
and colour, he not only affirms that the latter 
cannot exist without the former ; but that the 
particular colour observable in different bodies 
is not inherent in those bodies, and that in 
every instance it is produced by the direction, 
or other circumstances, under which light im- 
pinges either on them, or on the eye of the be- 
holder : and he gives as examples the plumage 
of the neck of the pigeon, and of the tail of the 
peacock p. And thus, he adds, the countenances 
of the audience, and the whole interior of a 
theatre, closed in with coloured curtains, are 
tinged with the colour of those curtains q . He 
instances the foregoing position by a reference 
to the colour of the sea ; which, when viewed 
in the mass, is blue or green; but, when con- 
verted into mere spray, is white 1 '. And he argues 
that colour does not belong to the ultimate con- 
stituent parts of bodies, on this ground — that if 
coloured bodies be reduced to minute particles, 
the colour vanishes s . 

Occasionally he employs terms which, even 
at the present day, correctly express the fact of 
the equality of the angle of incidence and of re- 
flexion: and he graphically describee the effect 
of refraction in altering the line of direction 

• Lib. IV. 184—11)0, and 200—202. 
pLib. II. 794—808. q Lib. IV. 70—78. 

' Lil). II. 736—772. ■ Lib. U. 825—832, 

u 1 



292 



EXERCISE OF THE 



of the rays of light 1 . But, in alluding to the 
phenomenon of the rainbow, he briefly states 
some of the circumstances under which it ap- 
pears ; without attempting to account for the 
mode in which the effect is produced 11 . 

Lucretius supposes heat to be a material sub- 
stance, because it excites a specific sensation in 
animal bodies x : and, notwithstanding the obvious 
alliance between heat and light, which is observ- 
able in many common phenomena and operations, 
he conjectures, what has been most unexpectedly 
ascertained by the experiments of the late Dr. 
Herschel, that there are rays of heat emitted 
from the sun, which are distinct from the rays 
of light emitted from the same source I, 

In speaking of the natural sources of heat, he 
observes, that it is generally produced by rapid 
motion ; and gives as an instance the heating 
and even the liquefaction of a leaden bullet, 
which has been projected through the air with 
great force and rapidity 2 . He also notices fric- 
tion as a source of heat ; instancing the fire 
which is produced by the mutual attrition of 
branches of trees a . In speaking of compression, 
as another source of heat, he not only gives the 
more obvious and probable illustration of light- 
ning, expressed or forced out from a condensed 

t Lib. IV. 319-324, and 438—444. 

* Lib. VI. 524—526. * Lib. I. 299—304. 

y Lib. V. 609—612. * Lib. VI. 176, 177, and 305—307. 

a Lib. V. 1095—1099. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



293 



cloud b : but, in mentioning a spring of water 
observed to be periodically warmer in the night, 
and colder in the day, he almost anticipates the 
views of modern chemistry respecting the dif- 
ferent capacities of bodies for heat ; when, in 
accounting for the fact, he supposes the heat to 
be forced by compression, occasioned by dimi- 
nution of temperature, from the surrounding 
earth into the water c . His interpretation in- 
deed of the phenomenon is not correct ; but 
this error does not interfere with the ingenuity 
of the illustration, or its coincidence with mo- 
dern hypothesis : and it is remarkable that, 
even after the lapse of twenty centuries, the 
real nature of heat is still questionable. We 
now know that, in such instances as that just 
mentioned, the apparent difference of tempe- 
rature depends upon the relative temperature 
of the surrounding air ; water which has been 
recently drawn up from the well feeling cold in 
the heat of summer ; but warm, during a frost. 
The fact is, that, being really of a mean tempe- 
rature throughout the year, it will be greatly 
beneath the temperature of the air of summer, 
and therefore will then appear cold ; and it will 
be on the other hand above the temperature of 
the air of winter, and will therefore at that sea- 
son appear warm d . 

b Lib. VI. 270—27.->. c Lil). VI. 861— 87a 

d Aristotle, in his history of animals, mentions as a fact, with- 
out however offering any explanation of it, that during the night 

u 3 



294 



EXERCISE OF THE 



From various phenomena, as from the drying 
of linen, or from its becoming damp without a 
visible accession or exhalation of particles of 
moisture, Lucretius argues that ivater is capable 
of existing in the state of an invisible vapour e . 
He asserts also that its constant exhalation from 
the sea is proved by the corrosion of walls built 
near the sea-shore, and from the salt taste per- 
ceptible in our mouths while walking near the 
sea f ; and that, although this exhalation takes 
place in a small quantity only, at any given 
moment and from a given surface, the aggre- 
gate quantity, which is the ultimate result, is 
very great ; and, lastly, that in consequence of 
this exhalation, the sea does not increase in 
quantity notwithstanding the constant influx of 
rivers, and the rain that falls into its. He no- 
tices moreover and accounts for the equality of 
the balance, between the quantity that falls into 
the sea from rain and rivers, and the quantity 
that is evaporated from the surface of it h . 

In speaking of atmospherical air, Lucretius 
maintains that, although in its nature invisible, 
and to all common perception intangible, from 
various phenomena it may be reasonably in- 

the water is warmer than the air ; for in stating that crocodiles 
commonly remain on the land during the day, but in the water 
during the night, he adds as a reason^ that during the night the 
water is warmer than the air, (akeeworepov yap ecrri rrjs aldpias. 
Ed. Bekker. p. 37-) 

e Lib. I. 306—311. f Lib. IV. 219—227. 

8 Lib. VI. 607—630. h Lib. V. 381—394. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



295 



ferred, that it is really a tangible, in other words 
a material substance. " Thus/' he says, 44 when 
" we observe that the winds, which are evidently 
" nothing more than currents of air, not only 
" drive the clouds in various directions, but vio- 
" lently agitate the ocean ; and even occasion 
" the wreck of the largest ships, by dashing 
" them against the rocks : or when, in the form 
" of a hurricane, they snap asunder the state- 
" liest oaks, and lay prostrate in their coarse 
44 the honours of the mountain forest ; we can- 
44 not doubt that in their mode of action, as well 
" as in the destructive character of their effects, 
" they resemble the inundation of a rapid river; 
44 like which, they sweep before them every ob- 
44 stacle, or carry up the heaviest bodies into 
44 the atmosphere, in their invisible eddies, with 
44 no less ease than the eddies of a rapid stream 
44 ingulf whatever comes within their vortex 
He also shews, by a still more refined argument, 
that the air must be a material substance, be- 
cause it offers resistance to falling bodies ; prov- 
ing this resistance by the difference in the ve- 
locity of falling bodies of different weights : for, 
were there no resistance in the air, he asserts, 
and the fact is experimentally shewn in modern 
lectures, that unequal weights, meeting with no 
impediment or support, would fall with equal 
velocity k . 



Lib. I. 272—295. k Lib. II. 230—239. 

u 4 



296 



EXERCISE OF THE 



Lucretius distinctly notices the physical office 
of the air as a receptacle, and medium of con- 
veyance for sound 1 and odours m , and the vari- 
ous exhalations continually arising from the 
surface of the earth 11 . But, though he is right 
in asserting that the skin of animals and the 
bark of trees are a protection against the action 
of the air, he is wrong in supposing them to be 
a protection against the mechanical action of that 
element . The science of chemistry, which had 
not then arisen, has taught us that such external 
coverings are a protection against the chemical 
action of the air. 

It appears probable, from the preceding state- 
ment, that in the age of Lucretius philosophers 
had formed some reasonable conjectures re- 
specting the nature of light and heat ; and that 
several of the physical phenomena of water and 
of atmospherical air had been accurately ob- 
served, and upon the whole correctly explained 
by them. And even in a subject of a much 
more subtle nature, the mutual attraction of the 
magnet and iron, the explanation of the pheno- 
menon was attempted with a degree of ingenuity 
quite equal to that, which has marked the rea- 
sonings of some of the philosophers of the last 
and present century, on subjects of a similarly 
abstruse nature. 

l Lib. IV. 561—563, and 572, 573. 

m Lib. IV. 219—222, and 228—230. * Lib. V. 276, 277- 
o Lib. IV. 930—934. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



297 



In proceeding to account for the attraction of 
iron by the magnet, Lucretius first describes 
the well known experiment of a short chain of 
iron rings, the several links of which are held 
together merely by the force of magnetism ; the 
attractive power of which is communicated con- 
tinuously from the first to the last in the series. 
He then claims the particular attention of his 
reader to his proposed explanation of so difficult 
a subject, by reminding him that, in facts of this 
kind, many points must be laboriously investi- 
gated and established, before a rational solution 
can be given. Thence, assuming that from all 
bodies minute particles are constantly radiating, 
of which, those from some bodies are disposed 
to affect one sense ; from others, another sense ; 
and that all bodies are porous to a greater or less 
extent, and are severally indued with their spe- 
cific qualities, affecting or being affected by dif- 
ferent bodies differently ; he argues that, from 
the magnet as from all other bodies, such mi- 
nute and specific particles are constantly ema- 
nating ; that this emanation dissipates the air 
from the space intermediate to the magnet and 
iron ; and that, a partial vacuum being thus 
formed, the ring is immediately propelled, by 
the air on the other side of it, towards the mag- 
net, to which it subsequently adheres by an in- 
visible bond of union ; and so, in succession, all 
the other rings are impelled : the adhesion tak- 



298 



EXERCISE OF THE 



ing place by some process, as insensible as that 
which unites glue to wood ; mortar to stone ; 
or the colouring particles of the purple dye, to 
wool p . 

The observations of Lucretius which relate to 
the mineral and vegetable kingdoms are too few, 
and of too general a nature, to justify even a 
cursory comparison of them with the present 
state of science in those departments : and 
though Pliny dedicates a considerable propor- 
tion of his Natural History both to minerals 
and vegetables, there is nothing sufficiently 
systematic in his method, or approximating to 
the present state of science, to be of any avail 
for that purpose. The same remark holds good 
even with respect to Theophrastus, not only in 
the case of minerals, but of vegetables also. The 
ancients had a glimpse indeed of the sexual 
system of Linnaeus, with reference to the palms ; 
but shew no tendency to a generalization of the 
observation. 

SECT. III. 

Opinions of the Ancients on the Organization and Classifi- 
cation of Animals. 

It appears from what has been said in the 
preceding section, that in mineralogy and bo- 
tany we scarcely find among the ancients the 
slightest indications of those comprehensive sys- 
tems, in the construction of which the last and 
pLib. VI. 906—1088. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



299 



present centuries have been principally instru- 
mental. 

Xot so in the animal kingdom. In this branch 
of science the true principles of classification 
seem to have been almost as clearly understood 
in the age of Aristotle, as at the present day : 
and, in order to enable the reader to judge of 
the truth of this assertion, I propose to offer a 
short and cursory analysis of that work of Ari- 
stotle which is entitled Hep] Zauv 'larcplag <i ; com- 
paring it at the same time with similar mo- 
dern works, and particularly with that of Cuvier 
entitled, " Le Regne Animal, distribue d'apres 
" son Organization, which was published in 
Paris in the year 1817, in four octavo volumes r . 

I shall not stop to inquire whether the work of 
Aristotle is to be considered as containing the 
result of his own observations only, or whether 
he has collected into one body all that had been 
observed by others as well as himself ; which 
last supposition, however, is probably the true 
state of the case. But in order to illustrate the 
magnitude of such an undertaking, and the diffi- 

Q It will be convenient here to state, that the edition to which 
references will be made in the following pages is that of Bekker, 
Berlin, 1829, 8vo. 

r A new edition of this work was published in 1829, but the 
preface of the first is retained without any important alteration, 
and indeed with scarcely any alteration at all. Nor are the al- 
terations, or additions, which have been made in the body of the 
work, of such a nature as to affect the present comparison. 



300 



EXERCISE OF THE 



culties attendant on it, even in the present splen- 
did era of philosophical discovery, I need only 
refer to the following acknowledgment of Cu- 
vier, Aristotle's great rival in this department of 
natural science, contained in the Preface of 
the " Regne Animal." He there at once con- 
fesses, with reference to his own work, that it 
would have been utterly impossible for any in- 
sulated individual, however long his life, and 
however great his leisure, to complete a sys- 
tematic classification of animals on the prin- 
ciple of conformity of structure (which, it should 
be observed, is Aristotle's leading principle as 
well as his own) ; that he should not even have 
been enabled to offer the present simple sketch, 
had not the advantages of his situation com- 
pensated for his want of time and talent. Sur- 
rounded as he was by so many accomplished 
Naturalists ; deriving information from their 
works at the moment of their publication ; and 
having as free access to their collections as to 
his own ; a great part of his labour necessarily 
consisted, he affirms, in the application of so 
many and such rich materials to his present 
essay. 

He accordingly acknowledges his obligations 
to Geoffroy, Levaillant, Oppel and Blainville, 
Lacepede, and Lamarck, in the respective de- 
partments of quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, fish, 
and testaceous animals ; all which classes of 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



301 



animals are described in the two first volumes 
of his work. And he particularly expresses 
his obligations to Latreille, who furnished him 
with the entire third volume of the " Regne Ani- 
" mal," containing the arrangement of crusta- 
ceous animals (lobsters, &c) ; the arachnida 
(spiders, &c.) and insects s . Of his fourth and 
last volume he speaks in such brief terms as 
the nature of its contents requires : for, inas- 
much as it only contains a compressed account 
of those animals whose history is very obscure, 
either from the minuteness of their size, or from 
our ignorance of their habits and modes of life, 
it is necessarily very short in itself, and concise 
in its details l . 

It is clearly immaterial, on the present occa- 
sion, whether the work of Aristotle, which we 
are about to examine, be entirely his own, or 
only a systematic exposition of the opinions and 
knowledge of others ; for, on either supposition, 
it is evidently a representation, on the authority 
of which we may fairly rely, of the general 
amount of knowledge accessible to the contem- 
poraries of Aristotle, in that department of na- 
tural science : and as, with even still greater 
confidence, we may rely on Cuvier's work, as a 
similar representation of the existing state of 
knowledge in the same department, I may safely 
refer to it as a standard of comparison with 

s Preface, p. ix, x. t Pref. p. xi. 



302 



EXERCISE OF THE 



reference to the knowledge and opinions of the 
moderns. 

In attempting to give an account of Aristotle's 
views, it is prudent to state that it has been col- 
lected from numerous and various notices dis- 
tributed very irregularly throughout the body of 
his work ; so that it is scarcely possible to be 
confident of having given the correct reference 
in every instance. It is prudent to make this 
statement, lest any of my readers should be led, 
in consequence of an incorrect reference, to 
doubt the fidelity of the representation here 
given, from the difficulty of meeting with the 
original passage. This difficulty is perhaps 
greater in the case of Aristotle, at least with 
respect to the work in question, than in the 
case of most other authors, in consequence of 
what may be called his Pindaric style of di- 
gression ; which is occasionally so abrupt as 
to be at first view ludicrous. Thus, in com- 
paring the kidney of the turtle with that of 
the ox, he suddenly illustrates his subject by 
observing that the viscera of the bonassus also 
(an animal not very like a turtle) resemble those 

of the OX. C^X €l ^ Ke *i f ° fio vacro $ T ® evTO? cnravTa ofxoia 

pot p. 45.) And, again, in the midst of a whole 
page descriptive of snakes, when speaking of 
their cloven tongue, he abruptly says that the 
seal (an animal not more like a snake, than the 
bonassus the turtle) also has a cloven tongue. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



303 



("E%e* kou y) <puKY) eo-^ia-fxevyjv tvjv yX&rrav. p. 48.) 

It may however be presumed that, in these, as 
in many other instances, not only of this but of 
many other of his works, the text has been vi- 
tiated or interpolated. Indeed some of the 
opinions expressed in the work are so opposed 
to the acknowledged physiological acuteness 
of its author, that they cannot be consistently 
admitted to have originated with him : and 
such, assuredly, is the solution offered in ex- 
planation of the physical phenomenon to which 
allusion is made in the proverb, ael Ai/3vyj cpepei n 
Kttivov. respecting which he says " that, in conse- 
" quence of the want of rain in Libya, animals 
" of all kinds congregate wherever there is 
" water ; and that, being rendered tame by 
" thirst, all those individuals which, though 
" of different species, are nearly of the same 
" size, and which go with young for nearly the 
" same period, breed together and produce new 

" forms." (JloXvixopcpOTara &e (ra £c?a) ev rvj Aifivr] — §ia 
yap rr]v avofxfiplav [xio-yeoSai §0K6i aitavTUVia irpog ra vkaTia, 
kol) ra fj.Yj 0{jL0<pu\a, koli excpepeiv xv ot XP r ' VOi °* T W KV W^^^ 
ol avro] kcli to. fxeyiQY} fxv) iroXv an aAA^Aav* irpog aXXyjXa &e 
itpavverai tia tyjv tov 7totov yjptlav. p. 248.) 

With reference to animal life in general, 
Aristotle notices the gradual advances made 
by nature from the state of inanimate matter 
to that of living beings; whence there arises a 
difficulty in ascertaining the common boundary 



304 



EXERCISE OF THE 



of the two divisions. And he then observes that, 
in the scale of material existence, plants imme- 
diately succeed to lifeless forms of matter ; and 
that although among plants the degree of the 
living power is " various, some being indued 
44 with a greater portion of it than others ; yet, 
" considered collectively, plants represent as it 
" were a middle term between animals and all 
44 other bodies ; appearing as indued with life, 
44 in comparison with all other forms of matter, 
44 but devoid of life in comparison with animals. 
" The change from the vegetable to the animal 
" nature is as gradual, as from inanimate to 
44 vegetable matter : for there are some marine 
44 productions, of which it is difficult to affirm 
" whether they are animal or vegetable ; since 
44 they permanently adhere to the spot where 
4 4 they are found, and cannot be separated from 
44 it without perishing ; and they manifest very 
44 obscure, if any, signs of sensation. Indeed the 
44 whole class of testaceous animals can scarcely 
44 be considered as superior to plants, when com- 
44 pared with those animals which are indued 
44 with the power of moving from place to 

44 place." (Ovrco $ €K roov a^vyoov elg ra %cca [X6T afiaivei 
Kara fxiKpov yj <f>vcri$ 9 cvare rfj avveyela XavSaveiv to [xeSopiov av- 
toov kou to peacv noTepcov ccttiv' fxeTa yap to toov a^vyoov ye- 

\ ~ / » V / '/ A ft 

vog to toov <pVTCov npccTOV eaTiv' Kai tovtcov eTepov irpog €T€pov 
bioupepei to) fxaXKov §ok€iv [xeTe^eiv ^ccrjg, oXov o"e to yevog 
TTpog [A€v TaKKa a-dofxaToc (paiveTai c-^elov coaTrep €(A\pV)(ov 9 vpog 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



305 



tie to tom a^/vyov. v) £e ^.tTa(3aorig ef clvtuv elg tol f»a 

cwzyrfi hrtn — evia yap tx'j ev rvj SakaTTYj ^lairopr^eiev av 
Tig women XjSm e<ro» y] cpvToS -zcjirecpvKe yap, kou y^p^o- 
fxe-ja TTokXa %iz<p$ei'p6Tai tow toiovtxv — oXxg §e nav to yevog 
to tx'j otrrpaKt^epfun (f)VToi$ eoiKe wfbg tol iropevTiKa tZv Qxoov. 
kol) Trept ai7$r t 7ix;. to. t u.h aurm ovbe ev CYjfxaiveTai. p. 212, 
213.) 

" Again, if we regard the substance of the 
" lower species of marine bodies, though in 
44 some instances, as in sea-nettles, it approaches 
44 to the character of flesh ; in others, as in 
44 sponge, it closely resembles a vegetable mat- 
44 ter. And, lastly, as different bodies appear 
44 to partake, in different degrees, of life itself ; 
44 so do they differ with respect to the degrees 
44 of activity in the functions of life. Plants, for 
k - instance, seem to be incapable of effecting 
44 much beyond their individual nutrition, and 
44 the continuation of their species : and the 
" same observation holds with respect to the 
44 lowest species of animals. By the addition of 
44 sensibility in different degrees, the pleasure 
44 and activity of life are increased ; first in the 
M gratification arising from mutual intercourse; 
y and further, in the natural affection which 
44 the parent feels for its offspring, and in the 
44 care of providing food for it." ( f H le tov a^aToq 

evioov (japK'xtr^ ear) (pvcig, olov tol t€ KaXovfxeva Trfiva kou to 
tqv a.Kakr t (puv yevog' o 0€ o~7roy*/<j<; TTWsreXZx; toiKe TOig (puToig. 
at) koltol txik'pav liafapav erepa irpo tTepuv rfir, (palvtTai 

X 



306 



EXERCISE OF THE 



fxaXXov %ooy}V eyovTa Ka) kivyjctiv. kou Kara Tag rov fii'ov 
izpa^eig rov avTOv eyei rpamvi toov re yap <f>VT%v epyov ovfiev 
aXXo (paiverai 7tXyjv olov avro iroLYjaai itaXiv erepov, oaa yiverai 
§ia cnrepfAaTog' 0fj*oloog &e Ka) tcov %<pcov him irapa tyjv yevecriv 
ov^ev eariv aXXo Xafleiv epyov — irpoo-ovo-Yjg aldSYjaecog yjo^yj, 
irepl re tyjv oyelav §ta tyjv yj^ovyjv ^ia(f>epovcriv ai)Tcov ol fiioi, 
Ka) nep) Tovg TOKOvg Ka) Tag eKTpocpag tcov TeKveov. p. 213.) 

44 Some animals, then, merely extend their 
44 species, after the manner of plants, at stated 
44 seasons ; and take no care of the individuals 
44 produced by them. And even of those ani- 
44 mals which provide nourishment for their off- 
44 spring, the greater number exercise their care 
44 for a definite period only ; that is, till their 
44 young are capable of providing for them- 
44 selves : after which, they forsake or have no 
44 further communication with them. Some in- 
44 deed, apparently indued with a higher degree 
44 of intelligence, enter into a social communion, 
44 and establish a kind of polity with their off- 

44 Spring." (Ta fxev ovv awXcog, cocnrep cf)VTa 9 KaTa Tag 
&pag anoTeXei tyjv oiKelav yeveaiv to. Ve Ka) irep) Tag Tpocpag 
eKiroveiTai tcov tIkvcov, orav % airoTeXecrYj, ^copi^ovTai Ka) 
Koivcovidv ov^efAiav er/ iroiovvTar to, §e avveTcoTepa Ka) koivco- 
vovvTa fxvYjixYjg Itt) nXeov Ka) iroXniKCOTepov yjpmTai Toig amo- 

yovoig. p. 213.) And he makes a distinction in an- 
other part of his treatise between such animals, 
and those which are simply gregarious; the 
former being characterised by the disposition 
to contribute collectively to the completion of 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



307 



some one work ; as man, the bee, the ant, &c. 

(iroXni/ca % eor/v obv ev ti kou koivov ylvtTai ttolvtoov to epyov' 
oirep ov irdvTa 7roiei to, ayekaioc. eo~Ti §e toiovtov avOpwirog, 
peXiTTa, o-(f)Y]Z, (xvpfxr^. p. 4.) 

With the exception of the opinion that inani- 
mate matter graduates into life, nothing ad- 
vanced by Aristotle in the foregoing observa- 
tions, if considered in the light of a general 
statement, is contradicted or set aside by our 
present knowledge. For no opinion perhaps is 
more prevalent, among those who are capable 
of fairly investigating the characters of natural 
objects and phenomena, than that there are 
gradations of excellence in the various forms of 
matter ; although the limits of distinction are 
often obscure. Who, for instance, that has com- 
pared the respective structures and qualities of 
the bodies, can doubt that the most splendid 
mineral indicates, humanly speaking, an infi- 
nitely less effort of creative and superintending 
power than the most simple vegetable ? In the 
mineral we find a perfect similarity, or rather 
sameness, of character, pervading all the inte- 
grant particles of the mass ; the order of their 
union being the result of a mere external force, 
which, having once brought them together, ceases 
to have any further effect. In the vegetable we 
find a most curiously arranged system of internal 
tubes or pores, which attract and separate the 
elementary principles of the soil and of the at- 



308 



EXERCISE OF THE 



mosphere in which the plant is placed ; giving 
rise to structures the most wonderful, and, if we 
contemplate different individuals of the vege- 
table kingdom, more variegated than the mind 
could have imagined — the bark, the wood, the 
leaves, and lastly the flowers, fragrant with a 
thousand odours, and emulating the brightest 
colours of the rainbow. Or, again, if we com- 
pare the character of the vegetable, fixed to its 
native soil, without any inherent power of moving 
itself, either totally or partially ; insensible to the 
influence of those agents which beget a succes- 
sion of new feelings and emotions in animals ; 
how contracted in its sphere of relations must 
we consider the former body, when compared 
with the latter ; and how incalculably a greater 
power of creation do the phenomena of animal 
organization indicate ! Gorgeous as are the lilies 
of the field, so that even Solomon in all his 
glory was not arrayed like one of these, yet 
what are they in the effect they produce on the 
human mind, compared with the lightning of 
the eagle's eye, or the fire-breathing nostril of 
the horse? Most assuredly, in our estimation of 
excellence, the intellectual and moral image will 
always bear the preeminence ; and, whether or 
not the physical conformation may eventually 
be found to correspond, philosophers have actu- 
ally classed animals in such an order, that those 
which manifest the higher degree of intelligence, 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



309 



and of moral feeling, are comparatively higher 
in the scale. 

As instances of the equivocal character of 
those particular forms of organized matter to 
which Aristotle alludes, when speaking of the 
obscure boundary that separates animals from 
vegetables, corallines and substances of that 
kind may be adduced among animals ; and, 
among vegetables, those green, and in appear- 
ance gelatinous conferva which are found in 
abundance in stagnant ditches during the sum- 
mer. And these, and similar examples, seem 
to shew that, after the lapse of more than 
twenty centuries, the difficulty of defining the 
boundary between animal and vegetable organ- 
ization still exists ; a difficulty which is fully 
admitted by the principal physiologists of the 
present day u . 

In examining, however, more particularly the 
preceding opinions of Aristotle, there is one 
which does not accurately agree with the pre- 
sent state of our knowledge : there is not, namely, 
that continuity of gradation which he expresses 
by the term oW%e<a x . There is probably no 

u See Macleay's Horse Entomological, p. 191. 

x A modern parallel to this opinion may be found in the geo- 
logical hypothesis that the simplest forms of animal life occur 
only in the older strata ; more and more complicated forms ap- 
pearing in the more recent formations. The progress of geology 
has shewn that this is not really the case. See Prof. Sedgwick's 
Address to the Geol. Soc. p. 2. 

x 3 



310 



EXERCISE OF THE 



living philosopher who advocates the opinion 
that gradual advances may be traced from the 
state of inanimate matter to that of life : for 
even Lamarck, who entertains the opinion of a 
gradation in structure among animals to a very 
extraordinary extent, considers that the differ- 
ence between organized and unorganized mat- 
ter, in other words between living and lifeless 
matter, is extreme ; so that they cannot possibly 
be ranged in the same line. And he also be- 
lieves that, however remarkable may be the ap- 
parent affinity between plants and animals, they 
may always be distinguished y. 

But a regular gradation of form cannot even 
be traced in one and the same kingdom of na- 
ture : for, with reference to animals, Cuvier dis- 
claims any attempt to class them so as to form 
a single series descending gradually from the 
higher to the lower classes. Such an attempt 
he thinks absurd ; and is far from supposing 
that, even in a separate class, the last in order 
are the lowest in the degree of their organiza- 
tion ; and still farther is he from supposing that 
the last of a higher class are more highly ad- 
vanced than the first of the class immediately 
succeeding. He merely allows that a regularly 
graduated scale is occasionally observable to a 
certain extent; and maintains that the universal 

y Lamarck, Philosoph. Zoolog. torn. i. p. 377j> 384 ; and 
398, in note 1 . 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



311 



application of such a principle is inadmissible 
on any philosophical grounds 2 . And Lamarck 
himself agrees with Cuvier in this opinion. 

The only formal terms of classification em- 
ployed by Aristotle are e7$o$ and yhog, of the 
first of which he gives a remarkably precise de- 
finition. That definition is really, though not 
in literal order, as follows : — " an animal species 
"is an assemblage of individual animals, in 
" which not only the whole form of any one re- 
4 4 sembles the whole form of any other, but each 
" part in any one resembles the corresponding 
44 part in any other. Thus every horse not only 
44 resembles every other horse generally, but the 
" eye or the hoof of every horse resembles the 
" eye or the hoof of every other horse. And the 
44 same statement is applicable to man and other 
44 animals. They are therefore the same in the 
44 character of their individual parts." ("E^e* &e 

tuv Jioci>v evia [xev irdvra. to. fkopia ravra aXXyXoig, evia $ 
€T€pa. TavTa &e to. fjt.lv e'ttiei twv (xopicov ecrrlv, olov avQpomov 
fig Kai 0(p8aX[A0$ av8pumov pivi Kai o<pdaX[xa), Kai aapKi aapJ; 
Kai qgtco octovv' tov avxov be rpoirov Kai iimov Kai toov aX- 
Xoov Zyvv, go a T'x e'idei javra Xeyo/xev kavTo'ig' OfAGicog yap 
(tHnrep to oXov eyei itpbg to oXov, kcu tccv [xoplccv eyei tKacrTov 
npog eKaiTGv. p. 1.) 

In comparing the preceding definition of Ari- 
stotle with the corresponding definition of Cu- 
vier, we find that there is no essential difference. 

2 Regne Animal, pref. p. xx, xxi. 

x 4 



EXERCISE OF THE 



Cuvier says, " Every organized body has, exclu- 
" sively of the common qualities of its tissue, a 
" peculiar or proper form ; not only generally 
" and externally, but even in the detail of the 
" structure of each of its parts a . And all the 
" individuals belonging to one of these denned 
" forms constitute what is called a species**." 

Aristotle thus defines the term yevog. "A genus 
" is an assemblage of individuals, in which any 
" one bears, upon the whole, an obviously per- 
" ceptible resemblance to any other. Thus birds 
" and fish constitute two distinct genera; each 
" comprehending several species. But the cor- 
" responding parts, in the different species of the 
" same genus, usually differ in colour, form, 
" number, size, or proportion. In different ge- 
" nera, indeed, the difference of corresponding 
" parts occasionally proceeds still further ; the 
" only resemblance being that of analogy, as 
" between a scale and a feather ; a scale being 
" to a fish, what a feather is to a bird." (T« &e 

ravTa fxev eariv, ^lacpepei §e ko£ imtpvfflv km eWaipiv, oaoov 
to yevog ecrri ravrov. Xeyco &e yevog olov opviQa km tyfivv' 
tovtcov yap eKovrepov eyei ^latfiopav Kara, to yevog, km e&Tiv 

a Chaque corps organise, outre les qualites communes de son 
tissu, a une forme propre, non-seulement en general et a l'ex- 
terieur, mais jusque dans le detail de la structure de chacune de 
ses parties. Tom. i. p. 16. 

b Et tous les etres appartenans a l'une de ces formes consti- 
tuent ce que Ton appelle une espece. Tom. i. p. 19. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



313 



ell^Yj TrXeioo lyQvwv Ka) opviScov. Ata(pepei §e crye^ov ra 7rXeiara 
twv fJLopicov ev avroig irapa rag rcov iraSrj^aroov evavri&creig, olov 
^poofxarog Ka) ayvjfxarog, rx ra [xev fiaXXov avra 7re7rov6evai ra 
tie rjrrov, en §e irXYjBei Ka) oXiyorYjri Ka) fxeyeOsi Ka) afXLKpo- 
tyjti Ka) oXo)g v-nepoyy] Ka) eXXelipei. p. 1. 'AAA' ug eiTreh ra 
7rXe7(JTa Ka) e\ oov (xepuv o nag oyKog avvecrYjKev, y) ravra ecr- 
riv y) fiiacpepei roig evavrloig Ka) KaS' v7repoyY}v Ka) eXXeixpiv. — 
tjvia Oe Tcov (^'jp'jov ovre eiOei ra fxopia ravra eyet ovre Kaw 
VTrepoyYjv Ka)< eXXeiipiv, aXXa Kar avaXoyiav, olov 7re7rov6ev 
——irpog nrepov Xeitig o yap ev opvwi 7trepov, rovro ev iyyvi 
ear) Xewig. p. 2.) 

But although Aristotle uses the term yevog, in 
its primary sense, as applicable to an assem- 
blage of different species having a general re- 
semblance to each other ; he extends it indefi- 
nitely, so that it is practically applicable to the 
modern and more comprehensive terms of tribe, 
family, order, or even class: for, as we have just 
now seen, he distinctly applies it to the class of 
fish, and of birds. And it is remarkable that he 
sometimes uses the term yevog as synonymous 
with ellog, or even a still lower denomination ; 
implying, that is, merely an accidental variation 
in a species. 

The following are instances of an undefined 
use of the term yevog. Having spoken of red- 
blooded and vertebrated animals, he adds, ra Te Xoi- 

iia yevrj ruv fcoaw ecrri fxev reriapa ^lY/pYj^eva elg yevvj : (p. 104.) 

in which passage yevo$ is first equivalent either 
to the species or to the g enus ; and afterwards to 



314 



EXERCISE OF THE 



the order, or to the class, of modern zoologists. In 
another passage he says, el?) le yevvj tS>v pekiTTuv 
vkkm ; (p. 287.) where yhog is evidently used as 

Aristotle was quite aware of the necessary 
connexion between the blood, or a fluid analogous 
to it, and the life of an animal. " Every animal,'' 
he says, " possesses a vital fluid, the loss of 

which occasions its death :" (e%e/ Te teal vypOTvjTa 
nav %ooov, r}g GTepio-Ko^vov — (pSaperai. p. 7.) and as the 

colour of this fluid in the higher classes of ani- 
mals is always red, (eVn TTjv cpva-iv to aipa — eyov — 

to xpoo^a epvQpov. p. 75.) hence, for the purpose of 
distinctive description, he assumes the colour as 
an essential quality; and calls those animals 
which have red blood evaifxa, and those which 
have not red blood avat^a. And thus he es- 
tablishes a fundamental natural division, an- 
swering to the red-blooded and white-blooded 
animals of modern zoology : and it is of great 
importance, with reference to his principle of 
classification, to bear in mind that he places 
the haifxa, or red-blooded animals, in the upper 
part of his scale. 

Aristotle was also aware that there is a na- 
tural connexion between the existence of red 
blood, and of a spine or back-bone, made up of 
several distinct portions called vertebrae ; (irdvTa 

to, fcoa, oaa evai[j.d eaTiv, eyei pdyjv, p. 66, avyKeiTai 

v) payj,g Ik acpov^vXccv. p. 65.) and he saw, conse- 
quently, the coincidence of these two conditions 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



315 



in the classification of animals : and hence we 
find vertebrated animals occupying the first di- 
vision in his scale, as well as in the scale of 
modern naturalists ; though, in consequence of 
his desultory method of treating the subject, it 
requires some care to ascertain the order of his 
arrangement. 

Aristotle begins his work with some observa- 
tions on the characters of the different com- 
ponent parts of the bodies of animals (and these 
are subsequently repeated in a more detailed 
form,) which forcibly remind us of the tissues 
of modern anatomy : " of the component parts 
" of animals," he says, " some are of the same 
" texture throughout : of which the most general 
" are the blood, and the blood-vessels — the flesh — 
" bone — skin — membranes — hair — fat, &c. (T£v 

ev roUg fwo/? fiopicov ra fxev eanv aavvBera, oo~a ^laipehai e*V 
Ofj.ctofj.epyj, p. 1. Tcov $ ofActofxepuv Koivorarov fxev eari to 

c Anticipations of modern physiological opinions are occa- 
sionally observable in Galen also. Thus the following passage 
clearly contains the germ of Bichat's doctrine of organic sensi- 
bility. " In vegetables there is a peculiar power of sensation, 
" by which, though incapable of sight, or hearing, &c. they are 
" capable of distinguishing between those particles of matter 
" which will nourish them, and those that will not ; attracting 
" the one, and rejecting the other." ("Ertpov iari yevos alcrOrjaews 
eu Toli (pwols — ovt( yap tu>v oparutv, ovre tu>v ukov(Jtiku>v k. t. X. 
e^ei 8idyv(o(Tiv, dXXa povov tcov rpefaiu rj pr) rpetpfiv hvvaptvoiV ra p.ev 
yap rpecpeiv bvvdpeua npos eavrrju eXuovo-a k. t. X. pcraftaWei npos To 
oiKeiov rr/s rpecpoptvrji uuaias, ra. 8e prj bvvaptva rpicptiv ov npocrUraL. — 

Galeni Op. Kuhn, vol. iv. p. 7^4.) 



316 



EXERCISE OF THE 



alfxa — kou to fxopiov Iv co 7re<pvKev eyyiveadai (tovtq &e KaXzi- 
rai <pAe\p), — kou y erupt, — oaTovv — §epfxa, ijmfi — Tplyeg — ?n- 
fxeXyj. p. 55.) 

He then distributes the several classes of ani- 
mals into those which have blood, and those 
which have not blood : and though in the first 
instance his distribution is very confused, yet, 
when adjusted by subsequent statements, the 
order of arrangement is as follows. Among 
those which have blood, are man, viviparous and 
oviparous quadrupeds, birds, fish, cetaceous ani- 
mals, and serpents. (Ta /xev evat^a — avQpamog Te kou to, 

'QfOTOKCL TOOV T€T pOL7FotcCVy €Tl §6 KOU TO, W0T0K&, TOOV TerpaVO" 

§(ov kou opvig kou lyBvg kou ky]to£, kou — o<f)tg. p. 42.) 

Among those which have not blood, are animals 
naturally divisible into segments, as insects ; ani- 
mals of a soft substance throughout, as cuttle- 
fish, &c. ; animals having comparatively a soft 
shell, as lobsters, &c. ; and those which have a 
hard shell, as oysters, &c. ( v AAAo Te yens Io-t) to tSov 
ocrTpaKo^epfJioov, o KaXeiTai otfrpeov' aAAo to tcov fxaXaKoo-Tpa- 
Kdov — olov Kapafioi kou yevvj Tiva KapKivoov kou dcrTocKwv' aXXo 

TO TOOV (AaAOCKlCOV, OtOV 0-VjTllOU' €T6pOV TO T&V €VTo'(AC0V. TaVTOL 

navTa fxev €o~tiv avaifAa. p. 10.) 

He proceeds then to say, that " after having 
" considered the common attributes and actual 
" differences of animals, we must endeavour to 
" find out the causes of these ; for only by a 
" demonstration and comparison of the pecu- 
" liarities of individuals can we hope to arrive 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



317 



" at a natural method of classification." (Upurav Tag 

vitapyovaag biacpopag Ka) ra <jvp.fiefty]Kora 7raai \afioo{j,ev. 
MeTa &e tovto Tag curias tovtcov Tteipareov evpeiv. ovtco yap 
KaTa (f>v<riv ear) 7roie7crdai tyjv jxeSo^ov^ vTtapyov<jv\g rv)g laro- 
piag TYjg wept exaiTov. p. 11.) " And, first, we must 
M compare together the several component mem- 
u bers of animals ; for the chief differences 
" among animals will be found in the presence 
" or absence of particular members, and in their 
" order or position ; or in their form, proportion, 
" the analogy of their uses, or the peculiarities 

" of their colour, &C." (Aiper&H §e npurov ra jxepYj rav 
%wct)v a>v (TvvecrTYjKev. Kara yap ravra fxaXicrra Ka) Ttpura 
^ta(f>epei Ka) ra oXa 9 y) tco to, [xev eyeiv ra. §e fxy e^eiv, v) ryj 
Beaei Ka) rjj rdtjei, r) Ka) Kara rag elpr^evag irporepov diacpo- 
pag, e'ibei Kai V7repoyjr\ Ka) avaXoylq. Ka) roov 7ra6y]fxarccv evav- 
riOTYjrt. p. 11) 

In the same philosophical spirit, and in terms 
not essentially different, Cuvier affirms that, in 
the attempt to establish a natural classification, 
" he examined one by one all the species that 
" he could procure ; and then classed together 
" as a subordinate generic group all those which, 
" resembling each other in the more important 
" parts of their structure, differed only in size, 
" or in colour, or in other points of little im- 
" portance." (J'ai examine une k uue toutes les 
especes que j'ai pu me procurer en nature ; j ai 
rapproche celles qui ne differaient Tune de Tautre 
que par la taille, la couleur, on le nombre de 



318 



EXERCISE OF THE 



quelques parties peu importantes, et j'en ai fait 
ce que j'ai nomme un sous-genre. Pref. p. xii.) 

In the examination of the component mem- 
bers of animals in general, Aristotle selects man 
as a standard of comparison ; alleging as a 
reason, that, as merchants estimate the value of 
foreign coin by a comparison with that of their 
own country, because best known to them ; so 
in making a classification of animals we natu- 
rally employ man as a standard, because we are 
more familiar with the human form than with 
that of any other animal. (Ylpurov $e t« tov wfysmoy 

l^epv] \v)7TT€gv' wcrxep yap to. vofxio-fxara 7rpQ$ to avToig 
€KaaTot yvcopifxooTaTOV ^oKi[xd^ov<7iv, ovtoo §y) koi ev tqi$ ak- 
Xoig" o V av8pco7ro$ tcov ^cfcov yvoopi^TaTov YjfjJiv dvdyKqs 

ecrr/y. p. 11.) And, man being admitted as the 
standard of comparison, it necessarily follows 
that, as a general rule, viviparous animals, birds, 
reptiles, and fish, would respectively come next 
in succession : and that order, as we have just 
seen, Aristotle actually observes. In one in- 
stance, indeed, he for a specific reason inverts 
the order of arrangement ; and, commencing 
with those animals which least resemble man 
in their organization ; and proceeding with those 
which bear a nearer and nearer resemblance to 
him ; he terminates his description with man, as 
having the most complicated structure of all 
animals. ('E^re/ &e ^irjp^Tat tol yw*f\ 7rpa>Tov, tov avTW Tpo- 

7T0V Ka) VVV 7T€ipaT€0V 7T01€1<i6m TVJV BtCOpiaV 7TXr}V T0T€ fJL€V 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



319 



t^v o\pyr]v €7roiov(J.e6a <TK07rovvTe$ irep) toov pepuv an av6pu7rov, 
vvv tie 7rep\ tovtov TekevTaiov keKTeov §ia to 7rkelaTY]v e^eiv 
TrpayfxaTeiccv. p. 112.) And he then enumerates 
the several classes in the following order ; " ani- 
" mals having a hard shell ; animals having a 
" soft shell ; mollusca, or animals of a soft sub- 
" stance throughout ; insects ; fish ; birds ; ovi- 
" parous and viviparous quadrupeds; and man: 
" by inverting which order we arrive at a correct 
" view of his original arrangement." (Ylpurov I" 

apKT€0V O.7T0 TUV 0(TTpaK0$6p[AiCV, fJ.€Tc\ 11 TOVTOL 7T€pi TCCV fJ.a- 

XaKOCTpaKcov, koli tc\ aXXa &e tovtov tov TpQTrov e(f>e^g' ecfTi &e 
to. re fj.aka.Kia kcu tol evTOixa, Kai [x€Ta TavTa to toov iyQvcov 
ytvo$ 9 to T€ ^xotokov Kai to (xiotokov avT&v, eha to toov opviQwv' 
[AtTa &e TavTa nepi txv ve%w XeKTeov, oaa t€ ^(fOTOKa Kai oaa 
cpoTOKa. ^xoTOKa V l<r*fJ tcov T6Tpa7ro§uv evia, Kai avdpavos 
tcov ^i7ro^ccv [xgvov. p. 112.) 

It is remarkable that, from the age of Ari- 
stotle to nearly that of Linnaeus, no systematic 
classification of animals was attempted; none, 
at least, was generally adopted. Soon after the 
commencement of the last century Linnaeus di- 
rected his attention to the subject ; and distri- 
buted the whole animal kingdom into six class- 
es, mammalia, birds, reptiles, fish, insects, and 
worms: in which distribution Lamarck observes 
that he improved on Aristotle, first, by using 
the more distinctive term mammalia/, and plac- 
ing the celacea in that class ; and, next, by mak- 
ing a distinct class of reptiles, and arranging 



320 



EXERCISE OF THE 



them between birds and fish. If this alteration, 
which has been subsequently adopted by all 
other zoologists, be made, Aristotle's arrange- 
ment of vertebrated animals agrees with that of 
the present day. And in distributing all other 
animals into four classes, which Linnaeus distri- 
butes into two only, Aristotle must be considered 
as having proceeded upon the more philosophical 
principle ; because the species of these animals, 
taken collectively, are much more numerous, and 
much more diversified in their form and struc- 
ture, than the species of vertebrated animals. 

Lamarck's objection to Aristotle's arrange- 
ment, on the ground of its commencing with 
animals of a more complicated instead of those 
of a more simple structure, is, for more than 
one reason, of little weight : for, in asserting 
that such an arrangement is contrary to the 
order of nature, he makes a peculiar hypothesis 
of his own the basis of that assertion ; and, 
with the exception of Lamarck himself, almost 
if not all modern naturalists, including Cuvier, 
adopt the same principle of arrangement as that 
of Aristotle. 

Lamarck objects with more justice to the 
terms hai^a and avaifxa, as also to the supposed 
improvement of some modern naturalists by the 
substitution of the equivalent terms, red-blooded 
and white-hlooded ; because in the second of 
those two divisions some species are included, 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 321 

as worms, &c. which have red blood. On this 
ground Lamarck proposed to divide all animals 
into those which have, and those which have 
not, vertebrae ; or into vertebral and invert ebral 
animals d . And he extended the two invertebral 
classes of Linnaeus to Jive, and subsequently to 
ten c . 

With reference to the classification of Ari- 
stotle, as expressed in his first book, it has been 
occasionally observed by literary men, who were 
not familiar with the details of his history, that 
quadrupeds in general and reptiles are ex- 
cluded. " The most comprehensive groups into 
44 which the greater number of animals may be 
44 distributed," he says, 44 are these : one, of 
44 birds ; one, of fish ; one, of whales and other 
44 cetaceous animals ; all of which have blood. 
44 There is another group of the oarpaKotepfxa. ; 
44 another, of the fxaXaKoo-rpaKa ; another, of the 
44 fxaXaKia; and another, of the evrofxa; all of which 
44 are without blood. Of those animals which do 
44 not come within the foregoing arrangement, 
44 there are no comprehensive groups ; for no 
44 individual type comprehends many species : 
44 and there is one type which is unique, afford - 
44 ing only a single species, namely, man. Some 
44 types afford different species without a differ- 
44 ence of specific denomination : thus there are 
44 red-blooded quadrupeds, of which some are 



d Philos. Zool. torn. i. p. 1H>, &c. e Ibid. p. 121, J 22. 

Y 



322 



EXERCISE OF THE 



" viviparous, and others oviparous," (Tewi &e /*e- 

yiaTa tcov %<xoov, elg a §iY]pv]Tai TaXXa %tpa, r&l? cot/v, ev fJLev 
opviOcov, ev $ iyBvW) aXXo &e KYjTOvg. Tavra fxev ovv iravTa evai- 
[xa eo~Tiv. aXXo &e yevog earl to toov oo~TpaKo^ep^oov — aXXo to 
toov fxaXocKOG-TpaKcov — aXXo to toov fxaXccKicov — eTepov to toov 
evTOfxuv. TavTa §e navTa \kev eo~Tiv avaipa — Toov &e Xonr&v 
%cooov ovKeTi to, yevv] peyaXa' ov yap nepieyei noXXa e'l^yj ev 
ei^og, aXXa to fxev \q~tiv amXovv avTO ovk eyov $iacf>opav to 
ei^og, olov av6pco7rog 3 ra ft eyet /xev, aXX' avmv^a Ta eitiv]. *Eo~ti 
yap Ta TeTpanoo^a Ka) ftiq KTepooTa evaifxa pev navTa, aXXa Ta 
[Mv tyoTOKa Ta % cpOTOKa avTcov. p. 10.) " And though 

" there are many species of viviparous quadru- 
" peds, yet they have no collective denomina- 
" tion ; but each is distinguished, as in the case 
" of the human species, by its proper name ; as 
" the lion, deer, horse, &c. on which account 
" we cannot describe them collectively, but must 
" consider the individual nature and character 

" of each." (Tov &e yevovg tov toov TeTpairo'^oov %opoov koi 
tyoTOKtov e'ldv] fxev eaTi iroXXa, avoovvfxa &e* aXXa KaS' eKacTOV 
avT&v cog elireh, ooo-Trep avQpooirog e'lpvjTai, Xecov, eXa<j>og 9 lirirog 
— Aio Ka] %®p)g XapfiavovTag avayKy Oecopeiv eKaaTov tyjv (f)v- 
criv avTcov. p. 10.) 

It is interesting to observe that even Cuvier 
occasionally experiences a similar difficulty in 
his classification ; and expresses himself, with 
reference to the difficulty, in nearly the same 
terms as Aristotle. Thus, in introducing his 
third order of the mammalia, called carnivora, 
he says, " The forms of the different genera of 
4 4 this order are so various, that it is impossible 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 323 

44 to range them in the same series : they are 
44 therefore divided into several families f ." And 
of one of these families, the marsupialia, to which 
the opossum and kanguroo belong, he observes, 
that " the genera of that family might form a 
" distinct order, so very peculiar is their struc- 
" ture^." And on another occasion he adds, with 
respect to this same family, that " although the 
" various species so closely resemble each other 
u in many points as for a long time to have been 
4 4 classed in one genus only; they yet differ so 
4 4 widely in their feet, and teeth, and organs of 
44 digestion, that, considered with reference to 
44 those parts, they might be distributed, not 
44 into one but several orders 11 ; — and might con- 
44 stitute even a separate and parallel class of 
44 mammalia 1 ." 

f " Les Carnassiers. — Leurs formes et les details de leur or- 
" ganisation varient beaucoup — au point qu'il est impossible de 
" ranger leurs genres sur une meme ligne, et que Ton est oblige 
" d'en former plusieurs families qui se lient diversement entre 
" elles par des rapports multiplies." torn. i. p. 121. 

g u Les Marsupiaux — pourraient presque former un ordre a 
" part, tant ils offrent de singularites dans leur economie." torn. i. 
p. 169. 

b " Malgre une ressemblance generale de leurs especes entre 
" elles, tellement frappante, que Ton n'en a fait long-temps 
" qu'un seul genre, elles different si fort par les dents, par les 
" organes de la digestion et par les pieds, que si Ton s'en ten a it 
" rigoureusement a ces caracteres, il faudrait les repartir entre 
" divers ordres." p. 170. 

' " On dirait, en un mot, que les marsupiaux forment une classc> 
f distincte, parallele a celle des quadrupedes onlinaires.'' ]>. 171. 

Y 2 



324 



EXERCISE OF THE 



In addition to the natural groups, enumerated 
in the distribution above described, Aristotle re- 
fers to a few marine animals which principally 
belong to the zoophytes of Cuvier, without com- 
prehending them under a distinct name. Of 
that extensive class of animals, called at the 
present day polypes, which are the fabricators 
and inhabitants of every variety of coral, he says 
nothing: and of that still more extensive class, 
if the term class be not too confined, the ani- 
malia infusoria, he was almost necessarily igno- 
rant ; most of the species being microscopic. 

It appears, from a few scattered notices, that 
Aristotle had a faint idea that the specific cha- 
racters and dispositions of animals might be 
altered, from the effect of food and other cir- 
cumstances : (t&v toov rerpaTro^ccv ttoXXvjv al y&pai 
ttqiqixti Oiacpopav ov jxovov npog tv]v aXXyv tov accfxaTog 
evYjfJLepiav dXXa kou npog to TrXeovaKig oyeveadai koli yevvav. 
p. 122. 'Qoa fxev ovv paXaKag eyet Tag Tplyag, evftoaia 
yj)oofJLeva dKX^pOTepag lv%€i 9 ocra &e GKXrpag, fxaXaKWTepag 
Kai eXaTTOvg. Aiacf>epovo-i koi KaTa Tovg TOirovg Tovg 6ep- 
fjLOT€povg koi \pvftpoTepovg. p. 68. *Ev/ot€ yiveTai toov [jlo- 
voypocov Ik fxeXavcav Te koi [xeXavTepcov XevKa — Ik &e tcov 
XevKcov yev&v ovk do7TTai elg [MeXav peTafiaXXov. p. 71.) And 

he mentions particularly one instance of this 
kind, though his reasoning on the occasion is 
not admissible in the present state of physiolo- 
gical knowledge. In observing that, 44 as the 
4 actions of animals are determined by their na- 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 325 



" tural affections and physical powers, so their 
" moral habits, and even some of their physical 
" characters, are capable of being altered by 
" their actions ;" he says, that " the common 
" hen, if she have fought with and vanquished 
" the cock, will begin to crow, and to imitate 
" the cock in various ways ; and her comb will 
" increase, and her plumage alter to such a de- 
' ' gree as to make it difficult to determine whe- 
" ther she be really a hen : even spurs, though 
" small, will sometimes grow on her legs." 

( r/ £2<77re/? §e Tag irpa^eig Kara to. 7raQr) avfx/3aivei 7rot€iaSai 
iraai Toig %u>oig 9 ovto) iraXiv kcu to, rfi°q fxeTa/3aX\ovcri Kara 
rag 7rpa^eig, noWaKig £e koll tcov [xopicov evia, olov en) t&v 
opv'iQoov GVfJLpaivei. A/' Te yap akeKTopi^eg orav viKyjacoa rovg 
appevag, kokkv^owjI re fxi/xovfxevai rovg appevag Ka\ oyeveiv 
entrap iv a i, koi to re KaXXaiov e^aiperai avraig kou to ovpo- 
7rvyiov, u<7T€ fxvj pacing av €7riyv£>vai oti GyXeiai tlaiv' eviaig 
&e kcu irXrjKTpa Tiva fxiKpa €7raveaTYj. p. 302.) 

The fact is nearly as Aristotle states it ; and, 
to a certain extent, similar facts are observable 
in the human species as well as in other ani- 
mals ; namely, that the peculiar characters of 
the female are occasionally obscured, with re- 
spect both to the physical form and the moral 
habits. But, in reasoning on the phenomena, 
Aristotle mistakes the effect for the cause. The 
circumstance of having fought with the cock is 
not the determining cause of the change in the 
external form of the hen : but the alteration it- 



326 



EXERCISE OF THE 



self in the external form is dependent on, or 
at least coincident with an imperfect develope- 
ment, or a subsequent alteration, of the inter- 
nal structure ; which imperfect developement or 
subsequent alteration determines that degree of 
masculine courage which prompts the hen to 
fight, and to imitate the male in other ac- 
tions. 

And so it sometimes happens that, in fe- 
males of the human species, the feminine form 
is either never originally developed, or, by age 
or other causes, becomes so much altered as to 

lose its usual characters ; (yvvvj &e rag h) t<x> yeveif 
ov (pvei rplyag' ttXyjv eviaig ylyvovrai oXiyai, orav ra Kara- 

fjLvjvia arri. p. 70.) and, correspondently with these 
exterior traces of virility, there is often in such 
cases a masculine temperament of the mind, 
which marks the character of the virago. And, 
on the other hand, from analogous causes ana- 
logous changes are found to take place in the 
male of our own species, or of any species 
nearly resembling our own : for, in such in- 
stances, the tone of the voice and the general 
form of the body acquire a feminine character ; 
and that firmness and resolution, which belong 
naturally to the male, subside to a greater or 
less degree into a feminine gentleness. 

Aristotle, then, had no philosophical notion of 
the laws which regulate the occasional variation 
in the specific form of animals ; much less of 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 327 



the limits of that variation : for the accurate de- 
velopement of which, the scientific world, and 
more than the scientific world, are deeply in- 
debted to the skilful researches and correct 
reasonings of Cuvier ; whose fame will rest se- 
curely on this natural and imperishable basis, 
when his own and all other artificial systems of 
classification, for artificial we can see them to 
be even in the present state of our knowledge, 
will probably have been overturned by the force 
of those new views of nature, which must neces- 
sarily result from the contemplation of the nu- 
merous and varied phenomena which are ra- 
pidly accumulating in this department of know- 
ledge. The field, indeed, in which Cuvier has 
laboured, with such advantage to science as 
well as honour to himself, is the investigation of 
the conditions which accompany the develope- 
ment of individual and specific form : and the 
result of his labours has afforded a splendid in- 
stance of the wonderful effect which the powers 
of the human mind are capable of producing, in 
a subject apparently of the least intrinsic in- 
terest and of the most unpromising aspect. The 
explanation of his views which I shall now at- 
tempt to offer, while it may tend to make known 
the particular merits of this philosopher to a 
class of readers, who at present are acquainted 
with little more of him than his great name, will 
certainly accord with the general object of this 
treatise. 



328 EXERCISE OF THE 

In the preliminary discourse of his work en- 
titled " Ossemens Fossiles," he states that the 
great principle in the study of comparative ana- 
tomy is this — that in every animal the several 
parts have such a mutual relation, both in form 
and function, that if any part were to undergo 
an alteration, in even a slight degree, it would 
be rendered incompatible with the rest ; so that 
if any part were to be changed, all the other 
parts must undergo a corresponding change : 
and thus any part, taken separately, is an in- 
dex of the character of all the rest. This law 
of the co-relation of parts is indeed so defined, 
that even a portion of a bone may often serve 
to verify the species of the animal to which it 
belonged (p. xlv). 

We know how successfully Cuvier has ap- 
plied the foregoing principle in establishing the 
true character of fossil species, of which the im- 
perfect remains, or fragments of remains, are 
both few and of rare occurrence. The perma- 
nency however of specific character does not 
hold in every part of the organization; and 
hence there is an occasional impediment to the 
application of the principle : but the variation 
never proceeds beyond certain limits ; and there- 
fore no more interferes, eventually, with the 
uniformity of the specific character of animals, 
than the periodical oscillations of the celes- 
tial bodies counteract the general regularity of 
their motions. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



329 



We are now therefore to consider the nature 
of the disturbing cause, if I may borrow that ex- 
pression for a moment, which occasionally in- 
terferes with the uniformity of specific character. 
And, with respect to specific forms, it may be re- 
marked, that, although it is to a certain extent 
true that all organized bodies have the power of 
producing beings resembling themselves, yet 
circumstances of temperature, and of quantity 
or quality of food, and other causes, have usually 
some influence in the developement of the body 
of each individual ; thereby producing some cor- 
responding variation in the form : and, conse- 
quently, the resemblance between the parent 
and offspring is never perfect. But — and this 
is a fact of the highest importance — there is no 
ground for believing that such variations pro- 
ceed beyond certain limits ; no ground therefore 
for believing that any of the above mentioned 
circumstances could have produced all the dif- 
ferences perceptible in organized bodies ; could 
have advanced for instance, by a gradual alter- 
ation of structure, a lower to a higher species. 
Experience, on the contrary, founded on an ex- 
amination of the records of remote antiquity, 
seems to shew that the limits of variation were 
ever the same that they are now. It appears 
for instance from the mummies of Egypt k , that 

k Vid. Cuvier, Oss. Foss. i. Disc. Prelim, p. 7'">. 80. 



330 



EXERCISE OF THE 



the general form, and size, and proportions were 
the same three thousand years since, that they 
are at present ; as well in various other animals 
as in man ; and in all physiological probability 
therefore were the same three thousand years 
before that period : so that we cannot refuse to 
admit, that certain forms have, without exceed- 
ing the limits above described, been perpetuated 
from the creation. 

From various circumstances, however, as has 
been already stated, the offspring never exactly 
resembles the parent ; and by the extension of 
those causes which occasion a difference of cha- 
racter, the variation from the common parent 
may possibly become so great, and so perma- 
nent in individuals of the same species, as to ex- 
ceed in some respects the difference observable 
in individuals of different species. Such ap- 
pears to be the fact, when, in the dog species, 
we compare the greyhound with the turnspit ; 
or the Newfoundland-dog with the Blenheim 
spaniel : and yet, even in such instances, which 
perhaps may be considered as comprising the 
extreme limits of variation, the specific character 
is never so far obscured, but that a child who 
had been accustomed to see a variety of dogs, 
and also of other animals, would recognise the 
character of the dog in each individual of that 
species. 

It is true, indeed, that it would be difficult not 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



331 



only for a child, but even for the most experi- 
enced observer, to define those characters by 
which the specific resemblance is recognised 
upon a transient view of the animal. Yet, al- 
though not obvious on a superficial examina- 
tion, nature has not left this point undefinable : 
for, in almost every instance, the form and 
number of the bones are so accurately pre- 
served, that, however the colour, or the size 
and the general form of the body may be al- 
tered, we have satisfactory criteria of the spe- 
cies in the points just mentioned. But, of all 
the constituent parts of the body, this obser- 
vation holds most eminently with respect 'to 
the teeth : and in the case of quadrupeds, 
which principally constitute the highest class 
of the animal kingdom, and in which class 
alone any considerable degree of variation is 
likely to be observed, we have almost always 
a ready mode of judging of the identity of 
specific character by an examination of the 
teeth ; for they in almost every instance have 
teeth, which are entirely wanting throughout 
the whole class of birds, and often in reptiles 
and in fish. 

In investigating the remote causes of specific 
v ariation, we find that domestication is the most 
general and extensive ; and that the effects are 
produced principally by the joint operation of 
the following means, namely, diet, t>eneral rcgi- 



332 



EXERCISE OF THE 



men, and the due selection of individuals for the 
purpose of breeding m . 

While animals exist in a state of nature, it 
does not appear that the circumstances in which 
they are placed give rise to much variation, 
even in their external and fugitive characters. 
A uniformity of size and colour is usually ob- 
servable in the several individuals of the same 
species ; as in the instances of the wild cat and 
rabbit. Nor is the character liable to be changed 
by intercourse among individuals of different 
species. Although, for instance, the hare and 
rabbit are so nearly allied in form and size and 
colour, we never meet with a hybrid or mule of 
those species. 

In domesticated species a variation first in 
colour, and then in size, usually takes place, to 
an extent proportional to the degree of domes- 
tication. Cats, which are less subjugated to 
man than horses or dogs, vary little more than 
in colour ; scarcely at all in size. And in horses, 

m Burckhardt observes, in his notes on the Bedouins, p. Ill, 
and 139, that in barren parts of the desert of Arabia, or in sea- 
sons of scarcity, camels and sheep do not multiply so extensively 
as in fertile plains and seasons. A similar observation would 
probably hold good with respect to the ratio of increase among 
the Tchutzki and other tribes of north-eastern Russia, and the 
inhabitants of New Holland or any other part of the world 
where the supply of food is scanty. 

See, on this subject, a letter, published by sir John Sebright 
in 1809, on the art of improving the breeds of domestic animals. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 333 



on the same principle, there is a less degree of 
variation than in dogs. In the dog, which is of 
all species the most domesticated, the variation 
extends to the production of an additional toe, 
and corresponding metatarsal bone in the hind 
foot n . And in the human species, in the indi- 
viduals of which, from their varied intercourse 
and modes of living, the limits of variation may 
antecedently be expected to have the widest 
range, there are families having six fingers. 

In concluding this part of the subject, I 
would observe that the principle, which we have 
just now been examining, is of very great im- 
portance as the basis of a physiological argu- 
ment with reference to the identity of the hu- 
man species throughout the world. For, inas- 
much as all the variations in colour, form, and 
size, of the different nations of mankind, come 
within the acknowledged limits of specific va- 
riation in the animal kingdom, we have hence 
satisfactory physiological proof that all the va- 
rieties of the human race may have proceeded 
from one common parent. Of the truth of the 
general position indeed, of which the human 
species is a particular instance, the work of 
Aristotle now under consideration is in itself a 
strong argument : for, notwithstanding the lapse 
of ages which has taken place since it was writ- 
ten, the description of many species is so accu- 

n Ann. (In Mus. torn, xviii. p. 342. pi. 19. 



334 



EXERCISE OF THE 



rate, as to leave no doubt of the identity of those 
described by Aristotle with those to which the 
description is applicable at the present day °. 

SECT. IV. 

On those Animal Forms called Monsters, or Lusus Naturae. 

The subject of the present section is naturally 
connected with that of the latter part of the pre- 
ceding : and, although the occasion neither re- 
quires nor would justify even a brief examination 
of the laws which regulate the formation of mon- 
sters, or lusus naturce, as they are often called, 
especially as they have been lately illustrated 
by that ardent French physiologist GeofFroy St. 

° It can hardly escape observation, or fail to excite surprise, 
that in the work now under consideration, Aristotle usually 
contents himself with stating facts : he very rarely reasons on 
their final causes ; thus omitting what Cuvier calls one of the 
most beautiful and useful points in natural history. The follow- 
ing are, I believe,, the only instances in which he deviates from 
mere description. He observes, when speaking of fish, that a 
great proportion of the spawn of those animals is destroyed in 
various ways ; and that if this were not the case the species 

Would become too numerous. (Ta fxev noWa cpa oi appeves dva- 
KanTOVon, ra 8* a.7r6\\vTai iv ra> vypcp' oo~a §' av eKTeKaatv els tovs 
totvovs els ovs eKTLKTovai, ravra crco^eTai' el yap iravra ecrut^ero, 7rap,7rkr)- 
6es av to yevos rjv eicdo-Tcov. p. 169.) On another occasion he ob- 
serves, that though the spring is the general season for propaga- 
tion., yet occasionally the rule is set aside ; where, for instance, 
the preservation of the offspring is the result. ('OppLrjTiKcorara piev 

ovv cos eVi to ivav elnelv irpbs ttjv oxelav ttjv eapivrjv Spav eoriV ov p,r)V 
ra navTa ye TroielTai top avTov naipbv Trjs 6)(eias, aXKa Trpbs ttjv eKTpo- 
cprjv tcov TtKvoav ev toIs Kadr}KOVo~i Kaipols. p. 181.) 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 335 

Hilaire ; it will not be perhaps considered im- 
pertinent to make a few observations on those 
remarkable productions, considered with respect 
to one of the probable final causes of their ex- 
istence. 

The term lusns naturae is applied to those na- 
tural productions, which vary in any remarkable 
degree, with respect to form, colour, structure, 
size, &c. from the general character of the indi- 
viduals of the same species. The term literally 
taken, implies a sportive effort of the creative 
power of Nature ; and for the purpose of gene- 
ral description there is no objection to this term, 
being, as it now is, familiarized by long con- 
tinued use. But as we have no ground for sup- 
posing that nature, or, to use the more proper 
expression, that the providence of the Creator 
ever acts without some wise and beneficent pur- 
pose, we must consider the term in a philoso- 
phical point of view, as expressing an effect, of 
the natural cause of which we are ignorant. 

What, then, is the real character of those un- 
usual productions which are denominated lusus 
naturae, or monsters ; or, in other words, for what 
end has Providence ordained that such produc- 
tions should be formed and subjected to our 
observation ? And here, as has been observed 
in another part of this treatise, it will be found, 
upon even a cursory examination, that in a lusus 
naturae the character of the species, however 



336 



EXERCISE OF THE 



obscured, is never lost. There is no ground, in 
short, for supposing that nature has ever pro- 
duced such an individual as a chimera or cen- 
taur. And Lucretius's scepticism in this point 
is justified on truly philosophical principles ; on 
the difference namely of the physical constitu- 
tion of the horse and of man : the horse at the 
end of his third year being full-grown, while 
man is yet almost an infant; and the horse 
being decrepit in his twenty-fifth or thirtieth 
year, when man is in his full vigour P. 

In pursuing this investigation, it would be ob- 
vious to ask, what are the limits which separate 
a lusus naturce from the ordinary individuals of 
the same species? and we shall soon find that 
these limits are, in the majority of instances, un- 
definable. 

If, indeed, in comparing the several organs, 
agreement with respect to number be the crite- 
rion, the limits are for the most part fixed. 
Thus the human hand so very generally con- 
sists of five fingers, that an instance of an indi- 
vidual having more or less than five fingers 
would be justly esteemed an instance of a lusus 
naturce. But even number is not always an ac- 

P Sed neque Centauri fuerunt, neque tempore in ullo 
Esse queat duplici natura, et corpore bino 
Ex alienigenis membris compacta potestas — 
Principio, circum tribus actis impiger annis 

Floret equuSj puer haudquaquam, &c. 

Lib. V. 876—889. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



337 



knowledged criterion ; for, with respect to the 
teeth, though thirty-two is the usual number in 
the human subject, yet the instances of persons 
having only twenty-eight are so frequent, that 
we can scarcely class them as deviations from 
the common law. 

But if size, or colour, or form be made the 
criterion, we evidently cannot then fix the limits ; 
for in all these points there is an endless variety 
in individuals of the same species : so that it 
might perhaps be truly asserted, that out of the 
countless myriads of human beings that inhabit 
the earth, nay even out of all that have existed 
since the creation, no two individuals would be 
found to resemble each other, exactly, in even 
any one of those points. And in this wonderful 
diversity the infinite power of the Deity is dis- 
tinctly manifested : for, in the exercise of human 
skill, the most accomplished artist, as soon as 
he ceases to copy an actual individual, falls 
into that general similarity of outline by which 
we are enabled to ascertain his style upon the 
first view. 

If, in the pursuit of our inquiry, we appeal to 
the distribution of the internal organs of the 
body, we shall find, that though with respect to 
many the position is determinable with con- 
siderable precision, yet with respect to others, 
the smaller veins and arteries, for instance, the 
variation is endless. But — and this most highly 

z 



338 ON THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 

deserves our attention — if we consider the uses 
of the parts with reference to the precision of 
their position, we shall find, that the position of 
those is most constant, the uses of which are 
most important ; while the distribution of those 
parts, the position of which may differ to a con- 
siderable extent without inconvenience to the 
individual, is found to be continually varying. 

Now as this law of deviation from the usual 
structure does not seem at all to depend on the 
construction of the parts themselves ; and as 
the result is necessarily connected with the well- 
being, and even the life, possibly, of the indivi- 
dual ; we cannot consider this result as the ef- 
fect of chance, or want of design : for, if chance 
could be admissible as the cause, why should 
one class of phenomena be so much more fre- 
quent than the other? And with equal or still 
greater force we may apply the argument to 
the existence of those productions emphatically 
called monsters. Probably then, or rather as- 
suredly, these anomalous productions may, in 
addition to other ends, be considered as proofs 
of a particular or constantly superintending 
Providence; and, like the storms which occa- 
sionally ravage the surface of the earth, may 
awfully recall to our minds the power of the 
Deity, while they at the same time convince us, 
by the rarity of their occurrence, of the merci- 
ful beneficence of his nature. 



CONCLUSION. 



339 



CHAP. XI. 
Conclusion. 

IT has been the immediate object of the pre- 
ceding treatise to demonstrate the adaptation of 
the external world to the physical condition of 
man : and, either in considering him merely as 
an individual, or as a component member of 
any stage of society, it may be freely admitted 
that every step in the investigation has tended 
to confirm this general conclusion, that — whether 
from chance, (if any philosophical mind acknow- 
ledge the existence of such an agent as chance,) 
or from deliberate design — a mutual harmony 
does really exist between the corporeal powers 
and intellectual faculties of man, and the pro- 
perties of the various forms of matter which 
surround him ; the material constituents of all 
nature being as evidently adapted to the supply 
of the wants of his body, as the contemplation 
of their causes and relations to the exercise of 
his mind. 

We have seen that from the surrounding 
atmosphere he is constantly supplied with that 
respirable part of the air, which alone can sup- 
port the breath of life ; and which is demanded 
for that purpose during almost every moment of 
his existence. We have seen that from the same 
source are derived those universal and important 
agents, water and heat and light, which are 

z 2 



340 



CONCLUSION. 



equally though not so immediately necessary, as 
air, to the wants of man. We have seen again, 
that the mineral kingdom, though it does not 
directly contribute to the support of life, yet in 
the form of natural soils sustains the growth of 
every kind of vegetable ; and that on the nu- 
triment derived from this source all animal life 
essentially depends : we have seen that the 
same source also supplies those various metallic 
and earthy bodies, the uses of which are most 
extensive and important in promoting many of 
the arts of civilised society. And, lastly, that 
the advantages derivable from the vegetable 
and animal kingdoms are, eventually, neither 
of less extent and importance, nor their adapta- 
tion to the physical condition of man less ob- 
vious, than those of the mineral and atmo- 
pherical. 

It would have been easy to demonstrate that 
an equally obvious but infinitely more import- 
ant harmony exists between the external world, 
and the moral condition of man, as between 
the t world and his physical condition : but this 
province had been assigned to others; and all 
systematic reference to that harmony has there- 
fore been studiously avoided — though the con- 
stantly recurring difficulty has been to abstain 
from such a demonstration. 

But, it may possibly be observed, both the 
physical and moral relations of man are in- 



CONCLUSION. 



341 



evitably soon cut short by death : and though, 
in many instances, societies continue to be bene- 
fited through successive ages in consequence of 
the efforts of individuals, who have long since 
ceased to live, yet in many instances, on the 
other hand, the memorial not only of individuals, 
but of nations also, entirely perishes; and all 
things apparently proceed, as if those indivi- 
duals and nations had never existed. 

Shall we then, in concluding this treatise, 
simply admit the existence of that harmony, 
the illustration of which was its professed ob- 
ject; and in admitting that existence shall we 
at the same time express our gratitude to that 
Power, which has thus amply provided for the 
physical wants of man, and for the develope- 
ment of his intellectual faculties ? That indeed 
would have been incumbent on us under any 
circumstances ; and without any qualification 
arising from the partial occurrence either of 
disease, or famine, or any other form of physical 
evil. 

But, since they, to whom this treatise is ad- 
dressed, are conscious that some ulterior cause 
exists for the adaptation of the external world 
to the nature of man, beyond the transient sup- 
ply of his physical wants, or even the exercise 
of his intellectual faculties; to have exhibited 
the bare fact of that adaptation, without some 
reference to its final cause, would have been to 

z 3 



342 



CONCLUSION. 



leave the whole argument without its just con- 
clusion. 

Avoiding however the presumption of specu- 
lating on the nature of a future state of exist- 
ence, we may, without any impropriety, assert, 
on the authority of revelation, that the happi- 
ness or misery of that state will depend much 
on the use we have made of that external world 
which surrounds us ; and will coincide with the 
prevailing character of those habits which we 
have contracted in this life. 

This then is the sum of the whole argument. 
The Creator has so adapted the external world to 
the moral as well as the physical condition of 
man, and those two conditions act so constantly 
and reciprocally on each other, that in a compre- 
hensive view of the relation between the exter- 
nal world and man, we cannot easily lose sight 
of that most important connexion. And, if we 
extend our views to a future life, we are taught 
that the moral state, which has been induced by 
our prevailing animal or intellectual habits in 
this life, will be continued and perpetuated eter- 
nally in the next — " that in the place where the 
" tree falleth,, there it shall be" — that " it is ap- 
" pointed unto men once to die ; but after this, 
" the judgment." 

Have we then, to refer first to our animal 
wants and desires, have we indulged without 
restraint in the pleasures of sense ; shrinking 



CONCLUSION. 



343 



from every breath of heaven, unless previously 
tempered with luxurious warmth, and impreg- 
nated with the perfumes of the east ? Have we 
weakened our intellectual faculties, and brutal- 
ized our moral feelings, by habitual inebriation ; 
abusing that gift of Heaven, which was intended 
as a restoration of exhausted nature ? Instead of 
simply satisfying the calls of hunger by plain 
and moderate diet, have we provoked and pam- 
pered the appetite by all the luxuries which 
the animal and vegetable kingdoms can supply, 
till at length all appetite has been destroyed ; 
pain and disease have been induced ; the human 
form and feature have been lost under a mass of 
loathsomeness and corruption ; and death, long 
wished for, yet dreaded, has arrived at last? 
we shall awake hereafter in another world, but 
in unaltered misery; without the hope of any 
second offer of release from the impurity and 
everlasting punishment of sin. 

Or, to refer to the intellectual part of our na- 
ture, in contemplating for instance the starry 
firmament, and in calculating the unerring mo- 
tions of the heavenly bodies, have we been con- 
tent to characterise the certainty and regularity 
of those motions as the result of necessity, or of 
the laws of an undefined agent called nature? 
And in thus failing to acknowledge explicitly 
the Author of those laws, though not indeed 
formally denying his existence, have we, like 

z 4 



344 CONCLUSION. 

the nations of old, worshipped the creature, 
rather than the Creator; and bowed down our 
knee, as it were, to the host of heaven? — we 
may in that case hereafter suffer the penalty of 
our intellectual pride, in a mode severely just. 
The mind, which in this life failed to exercise 
its highest functions by adoring the Deity in 
the contemplation of his works, may be for- 
bidden to extend the exercise of those functions 
in the next ; and, while it looks back with un- 
utterable torment to the forfeited pleasures of 
its former state, may be condemned, with tor- 
ment infinitely increased, to expatiate eternally 
through new fields of knowledge, without the 
capability of even putting the sickle to the 
boundless harvest which they present. 

But if, happily, we have pursued a wiser 
course; if, with Newton, we have delighted to 
deduce from the contemplation of the mechan- 
ism of the heavenly bodies the power of Him 
who made them, and who alone sustains and 
directs their motions ; we may, and with facul- 
ties infinitely expanded, cultivate with him the 
same pure pleasures, which even on earth ab- 
stracted his desires from earthly wants; and, 
enraptured with the harmonious movements of 
those endless systems, which neither our pre- 
sent organs can see, nor our present faculties 
apprehend, we may continue to be constantly 
acquiring new knowledge, constantly absorbed 



CONCLUSION . 



345 



in new wonder and adoration of that Power, from 
whom, both in this world, and in that which is 
to come, all knowledge, and every other good and 
perfect gift are alone derived. 



APPENDIX. 



Having considered in the preceding pages the general 
opinions of Aristotle respecting the physiology and classifi- 
cation of animals, I propose in this Appendix to make 
a selection from his descriptions of some natural groups 
and individual species of animals, for the purpose of com- 
paring them with the corresponding descriptions of Cuvier ; 
confining myself, however, exclusively to the mammalia, 
which constitute the first class of vertebrated animals. 
And, as an introduction to that selection, I shall prefix a 
comparative view of the observations of the same two au- 
thors on some points connected with the general physi- 
ology of animals ; presenting the whole in the form of 
two parallel columns, as the most convenient mode of ex- 
hibiting the comparison. In each column I shall endea- 
vour to give a free but faithful translation of the original 
passages, followed by the original passages themselves 3 . 

However extensive may have been the information of the 
ancients in that department of natural science which is now 
under consideration ; and however capable a mind like that 
of Aristotle must have been of deducing general conclusions 
from a systematic examination of facts, sufficiently numerous 
and various, for the purpose of effecting a natural classifica- 
tion of animals, it could not reasonably be expected that, 
antecedently to the knowledge of the circulation of the 
blood, and of the true character of respiration, and also of 

a In order to abridge as much as possible the number and length of the ex- 
tracts, I have occasionally merely stated a conclusion drawn from several se- 
parate paragraphs. In such instances I must claim credit for having rightly 
understood, and fairly represented, the context. 



348 



APPENDIX. 



the physiology of the absorbent and nervous systems, a na- 
tural classification could have been accomplished on prin- 
ciples so satisfactory as at the present day. And those in- 
dividuals pay a very absurd homage to antiquity, who, on 
occasions like the present, would place the pretensions of 
the ancients upon an equality with those of the moderns : 
for the question does not regard the original powers of the 
mind, but the amount of accumulated knowledge on which 
those powers are to be exercised ; and it would indeed be 
extraordinary, if, inverting the analogy of individuals, the 
world should not be wiser in its old age, than it was in its 
infancy. 

In comparing, then, the zoology of Aristotle with that of 
the moderns, it has not been my intention to prove that the 
classification of the one is built upon equally clear and exten- 
sive demonstrations as that of the other ; but to shew, as in 
harmony with the general object of this treatise, that, even 
in the very dawn of science, there is frequently sufficient light 
to guide the mind to at least an approximation to the truth 
— to a much nearer approximation, indeed, than could have 
been antecedently expected by those who are not accustomed 
to reflect philosophically on the uniformity of the laws of 
nature. Thus, as has been already mentioned, the advance- 
ment of science has shewn the existence of such a general 
coincidence and harmony of relation between the several 
component parts of an individual animal, that even a 
partial acquaintance with the details of its structure will 
frequently enable the inquirer to ascertain its true place 
in the scale of organization. And hence, although Ari- 
stotle knew nothing of the circulation of the blood, or of the 
general physiology of the nervous system, and even compa- 
ratively little of the osteology of animals, yet subsequent 
discoveries have scarcely disturbed the order of his arrange- 
ment. He placed the whale, for instance, in the same na- 
tural division with common quadrupeds, because he saw 
that like them it is viviparous, and suckles its young, and 
respires by lungs and not by gills; and with viviparous 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIER COMPARED. 



349 



quadrupeds it is still classed : the circulation of its blood, 
as well as the arrangement of its nervous system, being es- 
sentially the same as in that class of animals. And, not- 
withstanding the difference of its form, its osteology, which 
holds an analogy throughout with that of quadrupeds, is 
the same actually in a part where it would be least expected: 
for, with the remarkable exception of the sloth, all vivipa- 
rous quadrupeds have exactly seven cervical vertebrae, and 
so has the whale; whereas fish, to the general form of 
which the whale closely approximates, having no neck, have 
no cervical vertebrae ; and the deficiency of the neck in fish 
was recognised by Aristotle b . 



GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY. 

Cuvicr, torn. I. 
Every organized body has 
its peculiar form ; not only ge- 
nerally and exteriorly, but even 
in the detail of the structure 
of each of its parts ; and all 
the individuals which agree in 
the detail of their structure 
are of the same species. 



Aristotle. 

In some animals there is a 
mutual resemblance in all their 
parts ; as the eye of any one 
man resembles the eye of every 
other man : and it is the same 
with respect to the constituent 
parts of horses, or of any other 
animals, which are said to be 
of the same species : for in in- 
dividuals of the same species 
each part resemhles its corre- 
spondent part as much as the 
whole resembles the whole. 

"E^ei Se ruiv £ojo)i> eVta p.iv iravra 
ra p.6pia ravra a\\i]\ois, e'via 8' 
erepa. ravra he ra pev eidei rcov 
fwpicov £<tt\v, otov uvOpumov pis 
K(u 6<p6a\p.6s dvfipa>nov pivi koi 
<)(})da\p.G>, Kai (rapid <rap£ Kai oarcp 
oarovv' rbv ai/rov 8e rpuivov Kai 
Itvtvov <a\ roiv aWcov £a>cov, 6'cra tg> 
eiSei ravra \tyop.(v tavrols' 6p.0L0)s 



Chaque corps onrani.se a une 
forme propre, non-seulement 
en general et a l'exterieur, mais 
j usque dans le detail de la 
structure de chacune de ses 
parties, p. \6. et tous les etres 
appartenans a l'une de ces 
formes constituent ce que Ton 
appelle une espece. p. 19. 



350 



APPENDIX 



Aristotle, 
yap wcrnep to okov e^et npbs to 

$\0V, KCU TO>V popiCOV €\€t CKdCTTOV 

Trpbs eKao~Tov. p. 1 . 



Cuvier, torn. I. 



All animals have certain 
common organs, by means of 
some of which they lay hold 
of, and into others of which 
they convey, their food. The 
organ by which they lay hold 
of their food is called the 
mouth ; that, into which they 
convey it, the stomach : but 
the other parts are called by 
various names. The form and 
relative proportions, structure, 
and position of these parts, are 
the same in the same species, 
but vary in different species of 
animals. 

TldvTcov §' eVri t5>v £cog>v kolvcl 
popia, o> Several tt)v Tpocprjv Kai 
els o Several' — KaAeirai y 
pev Xapfidvei, CTTopa, els 6 he 8e- 
^erai, KoiXia' to de Xoirrbv rro- 
Xvoovvpop ecrTiv. — TavTa eVri 
TavTa Kai eTepa Kara, tovs elprj- 
pevovs TpoTTOVs, r) kot ethos rj Ka6' 
virepox^v «aT dvakoy'iav rj 77/ 
deaei hia<pepovTa. p. 6. 



In addition to the mouth 
and stomach, most animals 
have other common parts by 
which they exclude the refuse 
of their food : but in some ani- 
mals these parts are wanting. 

Mera he TavTa aXXa koivo. popia 



The leading character of 
animals is derived from the 
existence of a reservoir for 
their food, that is, an intesti- 
nal canal, the organization of 
which varies according to cir- 
cumstances. 



De la (le reservoir d'ali- 
mens) derive le premier carac- 
tere des animaux, ou leur ca- 
vite intestinale. — ^organisa- 
tion de cette cavite et de ses ap- 
partenances a du varier selon la 
nature des alimens. p. 21, 22. 



The lowest animals have no 
other outlet for the refuse of 
their food, than that by 'which 
they admit the food itself. 



II n'y a que les derniers des 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIER COMPARED. 



Aristotle. 
e^ei ra nXelcrTa ra>i> (ooeov 7rp6s 
tovtols, fj dcpLTjai to irepLTTcopa 
Trjs Tpocprjs — ov yap tvclctlv (map- 
%et tovto. p. 6. 

There are fibres of a peculiar 
kind in the blood • by the re- 
moval of which that fluid is 
prevented from coagulating : 
but if they are not removed., it 
does coagulate. And through 
defect of these fibres the blood 
of the deer and of some other 
animals does not coagulate. 

"Ectti §€ /cat aXXo yevos lva>v, b 
ylveTai piv iv cupaTC — <ov i^aipov- 
pevcov i< tov aiparos ov 7rr)yvvTai to 
aipa, idv de p.rj et-aipedcoo-i, nqyvv- 
Tai. p. 64. 'Ev pev ovv rc3 tcov ttXcI- 
cttcov cupaTi £cpcov evciaiv, iv 8e tco 
Trjs eXdcpov *ai npoKos /cat /3ou/3a- 
Xldos /cat aXXcov tivcov ovk eveiaiv 
ivcs' 816 /cat ov Trr\yvvTai avTcov to 
aipa opoLcos tois ciXXois, dXXd to 
pev tcov eXdcpcov TvapaTrXr]o-Lcos tco 
tcov dao~vn68a>v c . p. 65. 

The particular senses are 
five in number, sight, hearing, 
smell, taste, and touch. Of 



351 

Cuvier, torn. I. 
animaux ou les excremens res- 
sortent par la bouche, et dont 
Fintestin ait la forme d'un sac 
sans issue, p. 41. 

The blood contains a prin- 
ciple called Jibrinc ; which, 
within a short time after the 
blood has been withdrawn from 
the body, manifests itself in 
the form of membranes or fila- 
ments. 

(Le fluide nourricier, ou le 
sang) — contient la fibrine et 
la gelatine presque toutes dis- 
posers a se contracter et a 
prendre les formes de mem- 
branes ou de filamens qui leur 
sont propres, du moins suflit-il 
d'un peu de repos pour qu'elles 
s'y manifestent. p. 27- 



The most general external 
sense is that of touch ; its seat 
is the surface of the whole 



c It is deserving of notice, that the animals whose blood is said not to coa- 
gulate are such as are usually killed in hunting; and it is understood hy phy- 
siologists in general, that excessive exercise and violent mental emotions, hoth 
which occur in hunted animals, prevent the hlood from coagulating. Two of 
the species here mentioned by Aristotle (<r{«£ and 2«<twov,- or Xuyuos) are 
mentioned hy Homer as commonly hunted : 

— uytvitrxov v'loi uv%(>i{ 
Aiyec; t r u-y^nioa.;, T^'!*af, rii "krtyuovs . OnYSS. P. 29.). 



352 



APPENDIX. 



Aristotle. 
these the sense of touch is 
alone common to all animals ; 
and is so generally diffused 
over the whole body, that it is 
not said to reside in any spe- 
cific part. All animals do not 
possess all the senses ; some 
possess only a part of them. 
But no animal is without the 
fifth sense, that of touch. 

Eicrt al (aladrjaeis) ifkeioTm, 
Kai Trap as ovbepla (paiverai 'ibtos 
irepa, Trivre rbv apidpbv, oyjsis, 
aKorj, oo-cpprjo-is, y evens, a<pr). p. 
100. Uclctl Se TOLS £<oois al(r6r](TlS 
p,la virapxet* KOivrj povrj rj deprj, 
ware Kai iv (o avTt) popico ylveaBat 

7T€(j)VK€V, CLVfOVVpOV i<TTlV. p. 7* 

Ov yap opoicos nacriv v7rdpxov(riv 
(ala6r](reis^ , aXka. rols pev irduai 
rois S' ekaTTOVS. p. 100. Trjv de 
7rep7TTT)v a'iaOrjcriv rr)V deprjv koXov- 
fievrjv Travr e^et £wa. p. 101. 

All animals which draw in 
and breathe out the air have 
lungs. Those animals which 
employ water, analogously to 
air, in respiration, have gills. 

c/ 0\<os be Txdvra oaa rbv depa 
deftdpeva dvairvel Ka\ eKTwel, Travr 
e^ei irvevpova. p. 43. Ta pev ovv 
dvakoyov rfj avaTrvofj ^pcopeva tg) 
vypy fipdyx la ^X et - P* 215. 

Animals in general appear 
to have a certain degree of in- 
tellectual power, and some are 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
body. Many animals are with- 
out the sense of hearing, and 
of smell, and of sight. Some 
have none of the senses except 
that of touch, which is never 
wanting. 



Le sens exterieur le plus ge- 
neral est le toucher ; son siege 
est a la peau, membrane enve- 
loppant le corps entier. p. 36. 
Beaucoup d'animaux man- 
quent d'oreilles et de narines; 
plusieurs d'yeux ; il y en a qui 
sont reduits au toucher, lequel 
ne manque jamais, p. 37- 



When the element subser- 
vient to the process of respira- 
tion is the air, the organ of re- 
spiration is the lungs: when 
water, the gills. 

Quand cet element est de 
Tair, la surface est creuse, et 
se nomme poumoti; quand e'est 
de l'eau, elle est saillante, et 
s'appelle branchie. p. 43. 

Even the most perfect ani- 
mals are infinitely inferior to 
man in the intellectual facul- 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIER COMPARED. 



353 



Aristotle. 
capable of instruction. Some 
animals are cautious ; some 
are cunning. Man alone is 
capable of meditation and re- 
flection. Many animals pos- 
sess memory : no animal but 
man is capable of recollection. 



Qaivovrai yap (ra t^ a ) %X 0VT( * 
riva 8vvafj.iv — nepl re (fipovrjaiv 
Kal €vr]6eiav — evia Se Koivavel tivos 
apa Kal paBrjcrecos Kal 8i8acrKa- 
Xt'as. p. 251. Ta pev (fipovipa — 
ra §' €ntj3ovXa' — BovXcvtikov 8e 
povov avdpoHTos ecrrt ra>v ^(ocov. 
Kal pvrjprjs pev Kal diba^rjs noWa 
KOivojvel, dvapipvrjO-Kecrdat 8e ov8ev 
aXXo dvvarai 7r\r)v av6pa>7ros. p. 6. 



In the greater number of 
animals there are traces of the 
moral affections of man ; for 
some are mild and some are 
fierce. And the same thing 
may be very readily discerned 
in children, for in them we 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
ties ; although it is certain that 
their intelligence performs si- 
milar operations to those of the 
human mind: and they are ca- 
pable of instruction. Man has 
the faculty of associating his 
general ideas with particular 
images of a more or less arbi- 
trary character, but easily im- 
printed in his memory, which 
serve to recall to him the ge- 
neral ideas which they repre- 
sent. 

Les aniinaux les plus par- 
faits sont infiniment au-dessous 
de Thomme pour les facultes 
intellectuelles, et il est cepen- 
dant certain que leur intelli- 
gence execute des operations 
du meme genre — ils acquie- 
rent par Fexperience une cer- 
taine connaissance des choses. 
p. 51, 52. L'homme a la 
faculte d'associer ses idees ge- 
nerales a des images particu- 
lieres et plus ou moins arbi- 
trages, aisees a graver dans la 
memoire, et qui lui servent a 
rappeler les idees generales 
qu'elles representent. p. 50. 



Animals are susceptible of 
emulation, and jealousy, &c. 
In short, we may observe in 
the higher animals a certain 
degree of the reasoning faculty, 
which appears nearly the same 
with that of infants before 
a a 



354 



APPENDIX. 



Aristotle, 
may perceive the germs of 
their future habits; and in- 
deed the dispositions of human 
beings at that early period of 
life do not differ from those 
of the inferior animals. 

"Eveari yap iv rois 7r\eL<rT0is 

KOI T03V aKkobV £(p<OV "lX vr ) T ^ )V 

irepX TTjV yjrvx^v rpoTTcov, <mep inl 
tcop avdpcdiroov e^ei (pave pare pas 
ras diacpopds. p. 212. Ta pev 
yap iari ivpaa — ra he 6vpa>8r]. p. 
6. Qavepararov §' ecrri to toiov- 
tov inl rrjv tg>v Tvaihoov rjkiK.Lav 
fi\ey\facriv' iv rovrois yap ra>v pev 
vcrrepov e^ecov iaopevcov e&Tiv ihelv 
olov *iX vr ) Kai wneppara, htacpepec 
ovOev cos elrrelv rj tyvx*} ''jjs tu>v 
Brjpioov yjfvxrjs Kara rov xpdvov rov- 
rov. p. 212. 



As man possesses contriv- 
ance, and wisdom, and com- 
prehension; so some animals 
possess a certain natural power, 
which, though not the same as, 
in some respects resembles, 
those faculties. 

'Q,s yap iv dvOponrco re^wj ml 
orocpta koX crvveo'is, ovrcos iviois 
tS)v £<pa)v eort tis crepa Toiavrrj 
cpvaiKr) hvvapis. p. 212. 



All animals which have red 
blood have a spine or back- 
bone: but the other parts of 
the bony system are wanting 



Cuvier, torn. I, 
they have acquired the power 
of speech. 



lis sont susceptibles d' emu- 
lation et de jalousie — en un 
mot, on apercoit dans les ani- 
maux superieurs un certain 
degre de raisonnement avec 
tous ses effets bons et mauvais, 
et qui parait etre a peu pres le 
meme que celui des enfans 
lorsqu'ils n'ont pas encore ap- 
pris a parler. p. 52. 



In a great number of animals 
there exists a faculty, different 
from intelligence, which is 
called instinct. 



II existe dans un grand 
nombre d'animaux une faculte 
differente de Intelligence ; 
c'est celle qu'on nomme in- 
stinct. p. 53. 



The first general division of 
animals includes all those which 
have a spine or back-bone con- 
sisting of separate portions 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIER COMPARED. 355 



Aristotle. 
in some species^ and present in 
others. The spine is the base 
or origin of the bony system : 
it is composed of vertebrae, 
which are all perforated; and 
extends from the head to the 
hips : and the cranium is a con- 
tinuation of its upper or ante- 
rior extremity. 



TLavra 8e ra £a>a o<xa evaipd 
iariv, ex €L P < *X IV — Ta & a\\a fto- 
pia tu>v 6<TTQ)V evlois pkv itJTIV, 

CVLOIS OVK €<TTIV. p. 66. 'Ap^ 

de 7] pax^s early ev nacre rots e^oi/- 
criv oara. avyKeirai 5' rj pa^t? e< 

<T(f)Ov8v\a)V, T€LV€L 8' C17TO TT]S K€- 

(JiaXrjs pe'xP 1 npos tcl icr^ia. oi pev 
ovv acpnvbvkoL iravres Terprjpevoi 
elcrlv, ava> he to tt}$ KeCpciXrjs octtovv 
avvexes eo~Ti rols ecrxdrois acpov- 
dvXois, 6 Kakelrai Kpav'iov. p. 65. 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
called vertebrae. The animals 
of this division are called ver- 
tebrated. They have all of 
them red blood : their body is 
composed of a head, trunk, and 
members : the spine, which is 
composed of vertebrae, having 
each an annular perforation, 
and moveable on each other, 
commences at its upper or an- 
terior extremity from the head; 
the lower or posterior extre- 
mity usually terminating in a 
tail. 

Dans la premiere de ces 
formes [generales] , qui est celle 
de 1'homme et des animaux qui 
lui ressemblent le plus,, le cer- 
veau, &c. sont renfermes dans 
une enveloppe osseuse, qui se 
compose du crane et des verte- 
bres. p. 57- Nous appelerons 
les animaux de cette forme 
les animaux vertebras, p. 58. 
Leur sang est toujours rouge, 
p. 63. Leur corps se compose 
toujours de la tete, du tronc 
et des membres. L'epine est 
composee de vertebres mobiles 
les lines sur les a litres, dont 
la premiere porte la tete, et 
qui out toutes une partie an- 
nulaire. p. 62, 63. Le plus 
sou vent L'epine se prolonge en 
une queue, p. 63. 



Red-blooded animals when 
in their perfect state have 



Their extremities never ex- 
ceed two pair in number : 
a a 2 



356 



APPENDIX. 



Aristotle. 
either no extremities, or they 
have one or two pair. Those 
animals which have more than 
two pair are not red-blood- 
ed. 

In some animals the corre- 
sponding limbs are different in 
form, but analogous in use. 
Thus the anterior extremities 
of birds are neither hands nor 
feet, but wings. Fish have no 
limbs, but appendages, called 
fins, commonly four in number, 
sometimes two. 

Ta p.ev evaifia Tvyx&vei ovra — 
ocra rj arrobd ecrri re\ea ovra (cunrovv 
be <j)v(T€L €<tt\v evaip,ov 7re£bv r6 
tcov ocpecov yevos, p. 10.) r) binoba 
rj Terpdiroba. ra d' avai/xa — Travff 
oo~a like tovs 7r6bas e%ei Terrdpcov. 
p. 7» *Ewa be tS)V ^gkov ovre e'lbei 
ra fxopia ravra e^et ovre tcad* V7rep- 
oxqv Kai eWeiyjnv, aXXa mr 
dvakoylav. p. 2. Xapa? cf ovbe 
nobas TrpoaOlovs e^ei (ot opviOes) , 
aXXa TTTepvyas 'Lbiov npos ra aXXa 
£<aa. p. 38. Au^eVa ovbels e^et 
t^yy, ovbe ncokov oxiBev — 'ibiop 5' 
exovai — ra irrepvyta, oi p.ev 7r\€i- 
aroi rerrapa, oi be Trpoprjiceis bvo. 

p. 40. 

The red-blooded animals are 
man, viviparous and oviparous 
quadrupeds, birds, fish, ceta- 
ceous animals, and snakes, &c. 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
sometimes one pair is wanting, 
sometimes both. 



The form of the extremities 
varies according to the uses to 
which they are to be applied ; 
the anterior extremities being 
hands, or feet, or wings, or 
tins; the posterior, feet or fins. 



II n'y a jamais plus de deux 
paires de membres ; mais elles 
manquent quelquefois Tune ou 
l'autre, ou toutes les deux, et 
prennent des formes relatives 
aux mouvemens qu'elles doivent 
executer. Les membres ante- 
rieurs peuvent etre faits en 
mains, en pieds, en ailes ou en 
nageoires; les posterieurs, en 
pieds ou en nageoires. p. 63. 



The division of vertebrated 
animals includes man, the 
mammalia consisting of vivi- 
parous quadrupeds and the ce- 
tacea, birds, reptiles of all 
kinds, many of which, though 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIER COMPARED. 



Aristotle. 
*Eoti 8e tcivtci (£a>ci evaipa^ av- 

QpomOS T€ KO.L TO. {ctiOTOKCl TCOV T€- 

Tpaivobcov, ert Se koi ra cootokcl tcov 
TerpaTZohcov <a\ opvis Kai ix@is xa\ 

KT]TOS Ka\ OCpLS. p. 42, 43. 

Animals of the largest size 
are found among those which 
are red-blooded. All animals 
which have colourless blood 
are smaller in size than those 
which have red blood ; with the 
exception of a few marine ani- 
mals., as some of the sepiae d . 

Tovtco 8ia<Pep€i tu. fieyurra yevij 
7Tpos to. \oi7Ta tcov cTWcov £<ucoi>, TCO 
to. pev evaipa ra 6° avaipa eivai. 
p. 42. UdvTa 8e to. avaipa i\a.TTC0 
to. peye&rj ecrri tcov evalpcov £cpcov' 
nXrjv oXt'ya iv Trj daX&TTrj pei^ova 
avaipa io~Tiv, olov tcov paXaKicov 
tvia. p. 9. 

All red-blooded animals have 
the rive senses. 



" '.\vdpc0770s pev ovv — <ai ocra ev- 
aipa Ka\ {^cooTUKa, rravTa cpalveTai 
e\ovra TavTas Traixas (alardrjcreis^. 

p. 100. 



357 

Cuvier, torn. I. 
oviparous, are quadrupeds, and 
fish. 

Subdivision des animaux 
vertebkes. L'homme — les 
singes, &c. — les cetaces — les 
oiseaux — tortues — serpens — 
poissons. Tom. i. 6J. — ii. 351. 

Vertebrated animals, all of 
which have red blood, attain 
to a much larger size than 
those whose blood is colour- 
less. 



C'est parmi eux (les aui- 
maux vertebres) que se trou- 
vent les plus grands des ani- 
maux. p. 62. Le sang est 
toujours rouge, p. 63. 



Vertebrated animals have 
always two eyes, two ears, two 
nostrils, the integuments of 
the tongue and those of the 
whole body. 

Les sens exterieurs sont tou- 
jours deux yeux, deux oreilles, 
deux narines, les tegumens de 
la langue, et ceux de la tota- 
lite du corps, p. 64. 



ll See a curious engraving in Montfort, Hist. Nat. des Mollustpies, torn. ii. 
p. 256, representing a gigantic sepia grasping a ship and its rigging. 

a a 3 



358 



APPENDIX. 



Aristotle. 
No animal which is not vi- 
viparous has breasts : and even 
of viviparous animals those 
only have them which produce 
their young alive at once, 
without the intervention of an 
egg- 

The milk is not, as the 
blood is, a fluid which animals 
possess from their birth, but a 
subsequent secretion ; and is 
contained in the breasts. And 
all those animals have breasts 
which are essentially or di- 
rectly viviparous ; as man, and 
such quadrupeds as are covered 
with hair ; and also cetaceous 
animals, as the dolphin, the 
seal, and the whale. 

Ol)6eV T03V fJLT) £<dOTOKOVVT(£)V 

(1?X el pao-rovs), ovbe ra ^caoro- 
Kovvra Travra, ahX o<ra evdvs iv 
avTois tyoronei Kai pr) (ooroKel 
7rpS)TOV. p. 40. Tcov de o(pea>v 6 
pev ey(is ^o)oro/cei e£o>, iv avrm 
7rpa>T0V (poTOKrjcras. p. 151. Axpa 
vypov o-vpqbvrov eo-TL rols £<aots' 
vcrrepoyeves t)e kcu dnoKeKpipevov 
arrao-iv, orav ivfj, eveari, to yd\a' 
— e%ei be, ocra e^et to yaXa, iv 
rols paarols. paarovs b) e^et ocra 
^cootokcI icai iv avrols kcu e£-G>, oiov 
ocra re rpixas 'ix el > vwep avOpoa- 
7ros kcu liriros, kcu to. KrjTrj, oiov 
deKcpls kcu <pd)Kri Kai cpakcuva" Kai 



Cuvier, torn. I. 

The animals of the class 
mammalia are essentially vivi- 
parous; inasmuch as a direct 
communication is established 
between the embryo and the 
parent immediately after con- 
ception. 

The new-born offspring is 
nourished for a time by milk, 
which is a special and tempo- 
rary secretion from the mam- 
mae; organs, so exclusively pe- 
culiar to this class, as to 
have determined the distinctive 
appellation mammalia. This 
class includes all the com- 
mon viviparous quadrupeds ; 
together with the seal, and 
the dolphin, and other ceta- 
cea. 

La generation dans tous les 
mammiferes est essentielle- 
ment vivipare; c'est-a-dire que 
le foetus, immediatement apres 
la conception, descend dans la 
matrice, enferme dans ses en- 
veloppes — qui etablissent entre 
lui et sa mere une communica- 
tion, d'ou il tire sa nourriture. 

p. 75, 76. 

Les petits se nourissent pen- 
dant quelque temps, apres leur 
naissance, d'une liqueur parti- 
culiere a cette classe (le lait), 
laquelle est produite par les 
mammelles — qui ont valu a 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIEE COMPARED. 



359 



Aristotle, 
yap ravra p.aaTOvs e\ et Kat y^Xa. 

p. 77. 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
cette classe son nom de mam- 
miferes, attendu que lui etant 
exclusivement propres, elles la 
distinguent mieux qu'aucun 
autre caractere exterieur. p. 
76. De la classe des mammi- 
feres sont l'homme — les singes 
— le cheval — les phoques — le 
dauphin — les baleines, &c. p. 
79—284. 



MAN. 



All animals which have limbs 
resembling those of man, have 
their legs and thighs and hips 
sparingly covered with flesh; 
whereas in man these parts are 
more fleshy than any other. 



Of all animals man has, in 
proportion to his size, the larg- 
est brain ; and the smallest in- 
terval between his eyes ; and 
the most delicate sense of 
touch and of taste. 

No animal but man has its 
breasts in the front of the 
chest; the elephant, like the 
human female, has two breasts, 
but they are placed on the 
side. 

No animal but man has the 
faculty of articulate speech ; 



The muscles which extend 
the foot and thigh of man are 
more powerful than those of 
any other animal : and hence 
the calf of the leg is particu- 
larly prominent. The part 
called the pelvis, situate be- 
tween the hips, is altogether 
proportionally larger in man 
than in any other animal. 

No quadruped has so large 
a brain as man. His eyes are 
so placed as to be necessarily 
directed only forwards. In 
the delicacy of the sense of 
taste and touch man excels all 
other animals. 

The female breasts are plac- 
ed in front of the chest 



He possesses an advantage 
peculiar to himself in the or- 
a a 4 



APPENDIX. 



360 

Aristotle. 
which consists of vowels pro- 
nounced by means of the la- 
rynx, and of consonants form- 
ed by the tongue and lips : the 
dolphin, therefore, which has 
a voice in consequence of its 
possessing lungs, and a larynx, 
cannot articulate, because its 
tongue is not readily move- 
able, and it has no lips. 

Udvra de ra rerpdVoSa 6ara>8r) 
ra (TKekr] e^ei — kcu acrapKa — eari 
heKaXav'icrxi'O.. — 6 8e av6pco7ros rov- 
vavr'iov' crapK.G>8r) yap e^ei cr^eSov 
fxdXLO-Ta rov <ra>paTOs ra Icr^la Kai 
rovs prjpovs Kai ras Kvrjpas. p. 29. 

^E^et (eyfce^aXoi/) anavra 

ocra e%ei aipa — Kara. p.eye3os 6' 
Sfxolcos £X €L av0pa>7Tos TikelcrTOV iy- 
KeCpaXov. p. 19. Ta op,para 
i\axiVTOV Kara peyeBos 8U<Trr)Kev 

dvdpCOTTCO TCOV £a>00V. 6^61 8' CLKpi- 

j3ecrTa.Tr]v avdpomos rcov aladrjo-eoov 
Tr]v a(fir)v, Sevrepav 8e rrjV yevaLV. 

p. 18, 19. 



Maarovs ovk e^ei oiidev iv ra> 
TrpocrBev aXX' rj avOpconos' 6 8* 
e\e(j)as e)(« pzv pacrrovs 8vo, aXX' 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
gans of voice j for he alone is 
capable of uttering articulate 
sounds ; a power which appa- 
rently depends on the form 
of his mouth, and the great 
flexibility of his lips. 



Les muscles qui retiennent 
le pied et la cuisse (de Thomme) 
dans l'etat d'extension sont 
plus vigoureux (que ceux 
d'aucun mammif ere) ; d'ou re- 
sulte la saillie du mollet et de 
la fesse — le bassin est plus 
large, p. 82. 

Aucun quadrupede n'ap- 
proche de lui pour la grandeur 
et les replis des hemispheres 
du cerveau. p. 84. Ses deux 
yeux sont diriges en avant ; il 
ne voit point de deux cotes a 
la fois comme beaucoup de 
quadrupedes. La delicatesse 
de Todorat doit influer sur 
celle du gout, et Fhomme doit 
d'ailleurs avoir de l'avantage, 
a cet egard, au moins sur les 
animaux dont la langue est re- 
vetue d'ecailles; enfin, la fi- 
nesse de son toucher resulte, 
et de celle de ses tegumens, 
&c. p. 85. 

Ses mammelles, au nombre 
de deux seulement, sont situees 
sur la poitrine. p. 88. 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIER COMPARED. 



361 



Cuvier, torn. I. 



L'homme a une preeminence 
particuliere dans les organes 
de sa voix ; il peut seul arti- 
culer des sons ; la forme de sa 
bouclie et la grande mobilite 
de ses levres en sont probable- 
ment les causes, p. 86. 



Aristotle. 
ovk iv tc5 arrjdei dWa npos t<j> 
crrrjdei. p. 26. 

Ta Se gcpOTOKa nai rerpaTVoba 
(<pa aXXo aXXrjv dcpirjo-i (pcovrjv, 
diaXtKTOV §' oi'ftev ex* L > "8lov 

TOVT dv0pU>7TOV i(XTLV' (p. 107-) 

8i6Xe<ros 8' r] ttjs cpcoirijs earl rfj 
yXcoTTTj biap6p(£>cri<;. ra. pev ovv 
(pcovqevra rj (pcovrj koi 6 \dpvy£ 
d<plr]0~iv, ra 8° a(f)a>va rj ykcorra 
Kai to. X € ^V' e £ °* v V bidXeKros 
icrriv. p. 105. 'A(plr]cn Be Kai 6 
8e\(f)\s rpiypbv Kai pv^ti — ecrrt yap 
tovtco (pcovrj — aWa rr)V yXcorrav 
ovk cLTToXikvpevqv (e^et) ovde %e iXrj 
coare apdpov ri rrjs (pcovrjs ttoizLv. 

p. 106. 



APES, &c. 

The feet of apes are pecu- The hind feet of the quad- 



liar, and resemble large hands, 
the toes being like fingers, and 
the under surface of the hind 
foot like the palm of the hand, 
but terminating in a badly 
shaped heel. Hence they often 
use their feet as hands. Their 
arms resemble those of man, 
as also their hands, and fingers, 
and nails ; and they bend their 
extremities in the same direc- 
tion as man does e . The upper 
part of their body being larger 
than the lower part, as is the 
case with decided quadrupeds; 
and their feet partaking of the 

d The same is tnie of quadrupeds in general s in most of which, however, 
Aristotle mistook the joint at the heel and wrist, for that of the knee and rll»ow. 



rumana (to which order apes 
belong) have a thumb capable 
of being opposed to the other 
toes, which are as long and as 
flexible as the fingers ; whence 
they are capable of climbing 
well: but they do not easily 
walk, or support themselves in 
an erect position, because their 
pelvis is narrow, and the plane 
of the under surface of their 
feet is not horizontal. 



APPENDIX. 

Cuvier, torn. I. 



362 

Aristotle. 
character of hands ; their pel- 
vis moreover being small ; they 
are from these joint causes in- 
capable of continuing long in 
an erect position. 

Like man they have two 
mammae on the chest ; and 
their internal anatomy resem- 
bles the human. 



Some of the apes {ttWtjkoi) 
resemble man in many points, 
as to their face : for they have 
nostrils and ears; and both 
their front and back teeth not 
much unlike those of man. 

Oi de 7Tl6t]kol — Ibiovs rovs iro- 
has (ex°v(rC)' el&i yap oTov X € W es 
peyakai, Kai oi daKTvXoi oocnrep oi 
tcov x eL P^ v ) ° fi€0~os paKpoTaros, 

KO.I TO KCLTCO T0V TTodoS X €l P L OpOLOV, 

7rXr)V im to prjKOs to Trjs x €l P 0S 
eTTi ra ecr^ara tgivov, KaOdtvep 6k- 
vap' tovto $e eV aicpov CTKkrjpoTe- 
pov, kcikcos Kai apvBpcos pipovpevov 
7TTepvrjv. KexP 7 )™ TOL ^ ttooXu 
eV apcpco, Ka\ a>$ X*P°~ L Kai <ws 
TToal, Kai avyKapTTTei aanep ^el- 
pas. — "Ex el 8e Kai fipaxiovas 
Gaairep avdp<o7ros, nXrjv daaels' 
Kai Kap7TT€i Kai tovtovs Kai TO. 
o-Kekrj a>(T7rep av0pa>7ros — npos de 

TOVTOIS X €i P aS KCLL SaKTvXoVS KOI 

owxas opoiovs avdpanta, ir\r)v 
ndvTa TOVTa eirl to dr)pi(odeo~Tepov. 



In the character of their in- 
testines, in the direction of 
their eyes, and in the position 
of their breasts, they resemble 
man ; and the structure of their 
fore-arms and hands enables 
them to imitate us in many of 
their gestures and actions. 

The higher species of apes 
have flat nails ; and teeth 
very much resembling the hu- 
man both in number and ar- 
rangement, and also in form : 
and they have no tail. 

Les quadrumanes different 
de notre espece par le caractere 
tres-sensible, que ses pieds de 
derriere ont les pouces libres 
et opposables aux autres doigts, 
et que les doigts des pieds sont 
longs et flexibles comme ceux 
de la main; aussi toutes les 
especes grimpent-elles aux ar- 
bres avec facilite, tandis qu'elles 
ne se tiennent et ne marchent 
debout qu'avec peine, leur pied 
ne se posant alors que sur le 
tranchant exterieur, et leurbas- 
sin etroit ne favorisant point 
Fequilibre. p. 100. 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIER COMPARED. 



363 



Aristotle. Cuvier, torn. I. 

Ta. avco tov kotg> noXv p.ei£ova 

e^fi, cS(77rep ra TtTpcmoba — Kai 

8id re ravra Kai 8ia to tovs 

n68as ex €lv opotovs X e P°~* L — 

reAet tov nXelco xpdvov TtTpdrrovv 

ov paXXov 77 opdov' Kai ovt icr^ia 

e^et a)s TeTpdnow ov. p. 35, 36. 

Ta S' eVroy 8iaipe6evTa opoia Elles ont toutes des intestins 

tfxovaiv dvOpcoiroi irdvTa to. toiciv- assez semblables aux notres, 

ra. p. 36. *Ex €l & & ™ arrjOet les yeux diriges en avant, les 

Svo pao-Tcov piKpav. p. 35. mammelles sur la poitrine. p. 

100. La liberte de leurs avant- 
bras et la complication de leurs 
mains leur permettent a toutes 
beaucoup d'actions et de gestes 
semblables a ceux de l'homme. 
p. 101. 

Les singes — ont a chaque 
machoire quatre dents inci- 
sives droites, et a tous les 
doigts des ongles plats ; deux 
caracteres qui les rapprochent 
de l'homme plus que les genres 
suivans ; leurs molaires n'ont 
aussi, comme les notres, que 
des tubercules mousses, p. 101. 

THE HEDGEHOG AND PORCUPINE. 



To 8e 7rp6o-(o7rov e^fi ttoXX&s 

6pOLOTT]TaS TW TOV dvBpOiTTOV' KO.I 

yap pvKTrjpas Kai Jra 7rapanXr)aia 
c^ei, Kai odovTas aanep 6 avdpco- 
ttos, Kai tovs Tvpoo-Qiovs Kai TOVS 
yopcplovs. p. 35. 



Porcupines and land-echini, 
or hedgehogs, are covered with 
spines, which are properly to 
be considered in these animals 
as a kind of rigid and indu- 
rated hair ; for these spines do 
not serve the purpose of feet, 
as they do in sea-echini. 

Tpix&v yap tl eiSoy deTeov Kai 
Tas dmvBtodeis Tpixas, olas 01 X f P~ 



Hedgehogs have their bodies 
covered with quills instead of 
hair ; and so have porcupines. 



Les herissons et les pore- 
epics ont le corps convert de 



364 



APPENDIX. 



Aristotle, 
craioi e%ov(Tiv exivoi tca\ oi varpi- 
%€s' rpixos yap xpei'ay Trape^ovaiv , 
aXX' ov Trobwv, acmep oi ra>v 6a- 
\arrifop. p. 10. 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
piquans au lieu de poils. p. 
132 et 208. 



THE MOLE. 



All viviparous animals have 
eyes,, except the mole ; and even 
this animal, although it has 
neither the faculty of sight, 
nor eyes readily visible, can- 
not be said to be altogether 
without eyes j for if its skin be 
taken off, you may distinguish 
not only the natural situation 
of the eyes, but that black cen- 
tral part of the eye itself in 
which the pupil is contained ; 
as if these organs had been im- 
perfectly developed, and the 
skin had grown over them. If 
the skin, which is thick, be 
stripped off from the head, 
ybu may perceive on its inner 
surface, and in the usual re- 
gion, distinct eyes ; which, 
though small and shrunk, as it 
were, have all the essential 
parts of those organs, namely, 
a pupil placed in the centre of 
the black part of the eye, and 
that black part surrounded by 
the white e . 

ZaoroKa Ttavra (e^et 6<fi6a\p,ovs) 
ir\r\v do~7ra\aicos . tovtov de Tponov 



The eye of the mole is so 
small, and so concealed by the 
skin, that for a long time this 
animal was supposed to be 
without eyes. The blind rat- 
mole has no visible trace of ex- 
ternal eyes; but in taking off 
the skin, a very small black 
point is observable, which ap- 
pears to have the organization 
of an eye, without the possibi- 
lity of being employed as such, 
because the skin passes over it 
not only in an entire state, but 
as thick and as closely covered 
with hair as in any other part 
of the face. This may pro- 
bably be the animal which, ac- 
cording to M. Olivier, gave the 
idea to the ancients of describ- 
ing the mole as totally blind f . 



Son ceil est si petit, et telle- 
ment cache par le poil, qu'on 



e Kuxkaviov (p. 101.) is evidently synonymous with Xtuxov. (p. 12.) 
f By an examination of Aristotle's description it is evident that the ancients 
knew the true state of the case, namely, that the mole has eyes. 



ARISTOTLE AND CUV I EE COMPARED. 



365 



Aristotle, 
pev tlv ex etv av @ eir l TIS > oXcoy §' 
ovk €\€lv. oXcos pev yap ovff opa 
ovt e^ei els to (pavepbv hrjkovs 
dcpOaXpovs' d(paipe6evTOS de tov 
depparos e^et ttjv re x^P av T ® v °P— 
paTcov nai tcov 6cp6aXpcov to. peXava 
Kara tov tottov Ka\ ttjv x<*P av T l v 
cpvcrei rot? dcpdaXpo'is vTrdpxovcrav 
ev ra> eicros, cos ev Trj yevicrei ttt)- 
povpeva>v Ka\ emCpvopevov tov bep- 
paros. p. 13. ' AcpaipedevTOs 5e 
tov deppaTos ovtos Tra^eo? otto tt)s 
KecpaXrjs Kara ttjv x^P av r l v 
twv oppaTcov eacodev elcriv oi 6<p- 
QaXpoi 8ie(p0appevoi } TfdvT e^ovre? 
TavTa to. peprj rol? dX^^ivoI?* 
exovcri yap to re piXav kol to ev- 
tos tov peXavos, ttjv KaXovpevqv 

KOpTjV, KOI TO KVkXwTTLOV. p. 1 00, 

101. 

THE 

The bear is an omnivorous 
animal, living on various fruits, 

011 honey, on ant*, and on fitsA , 

attacking not only the smaller 
animals, but even wild boars 
and bulls ?. The feet of the 
bear resemble hands ; and for 
a short time this animal can 
walk erect on its two hind 
feet. 

'H 6' (tpKTos 7rapcpdyov eari. 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
en a nie long-temps l'existence. 
p. 13'. Le rat-taupe aveugle 
— n'a menie point du tout d'ceil 
visible au dehors ; mais quand 
on enleve sa peau, on trouve 
un tres-petit point noir qui pa- 
rait organise comme un ceil, 
sans pouvoir servir a la vision, 
puisque la peau passe dessus 
sans s'ouvrir ni s'amincir, et 
sans y avoir moins de poils 
qu'autre part. — II se pourrait, 
comme le dit M. Olivier, qu'il 
eut donne aux anciens l'idee de 
faire la taupe tout-a-fait aveu- 
gle. p. 201. 



BEAR. 

The bear though so power- 
ful an animal is not disposed 
lo reed on flesh, unless when 

compelled by want of other 
food. Bears walk on the whole 
sole of the foot, and are thus 
enabled to raise themselves 
with comparative ease in an 
erect position on their hind 
feet. 

Les ours — malgre leur ex- 



5 Its mode of engaging with the bull is thus described by Aristotle: " In 
u engaging the bull, the bear throws itself on its back ; and, while the bull 
u is attempting to toss it, the bear takes the bull's horns between its paws, 
" and thus overthrows its adversary."' 



366 



APPENDIX. 



Aristotle. 
Kai yap Kapirbv iaOUi — Kai pt\i 
— -Kai pvpprjKas, /cat crapKO<payei. 
bid yap rrjv to-^w imriOerac ov 
povov rot? i\d(pois dWd Ka\ rots 
ayplots vo~\v — /cat rot? ravpois' 
6p6o~e x od ph°' ao ' a 7 a P T( ? Tavpco 
Kara. TTpoaoaTrov virria Karaninrei, 
Kai rov ravpov rvirreiv eVi^etpovi/- 
tos rots pev (3pax'io(ri ra Kepara 
TrepCkapfiavei, rat be crropart rrjv 
aKpcoplav SaKovcra KarafidXkei rov 
ravpov. (3abl£ei eni riva xpdvov 
okiyov Ka\ roiv bvolv nohow opdrj. 

p. 224. 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
treme force, ne mangent-ils 
guere de chair que par neces- 
site. lis marchent sur la plante 
entiere, ce qui leur donne plus 
de facilite pour se dresser sur 
leurs pieds de derriere. p. 141. 



THE SEAL. 



The 



its 



seal brings forth 
young on shore, but 
most of its time in the sea, and 
derives its nourishment from 
thence. With respect to its 
extremities, it may be consi- 
dered as an imperfect quadru- 
ped ; for immediately in suc- 
cession to us snoumer maaco 

it has feet resembling hands h ; 
and on each foot are five toes, 
and each toe has three joints : 
the hind feet in their shape 
resemble the tail of a fish. All 
the teeth of the seal are sharp 
and pointed, as indicating the 
approximation of their nature 
to fish ; almost all fish having 
teeth of that character. The 
seal has a cloven tongue. 



The feet of the seal are so 
short, and so enveloped in the 
skin, that on land they only 
serve them for crawling ; but, 
as the interstices of the toes 
are filled up with membrane, 
they act as excellent oars ; and 
hence these animals pass the 

g 1Mt « part of their life in the 
sea, only coming to land for 
the purpose of basking in the 
sun and suckling their cubs. 
They have five toes on each of 
their feet: and on the hind 
feet the outermost and inner- 
most are longest, the interme- 
diate being shortest. All their 
teeth have either pointed or 
cutting edges. Their tongue 
is indented at the extremity. 



h From the shortness of the arm and fore-arm in this animal, Aristotle 
overlooked these parts. 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIER COMPARED. 367 



Aristotle. 

'H 8e <pU>KT) TLKTCl iv Tjj yij 

pev — diarplfiei de rov XP° V0V TOV 
7ro\vv kcu Tpecperai e< Tr/s SaXdr- 
TT)S. p. 167, 168. 'H de (poiKtj 
aarrep TveTTTjpatpevov earl rerpd- 
7TOVV evdvs yap e^et pera rr\v 
Qop.o7r\aTT]v rovs 7r68as opolovs 
Xepcr\v — 7revraddKTvXoL yap elcri, 
Kal CKaCTTOS TOiV BaKTvXcov Kaphas 
e^et rpets — oi ott'ictOlol — tu> 

(T)(T]paTi 7rapa7rXr)(TioL rals tu>v lx~ 
6vcov ovpaxs elcri. p. 2*J. Kap%a- 
pohovv earl nacri to7s oBovcriv, 
a>s iirahXaTTOvcra roi yeveu to>p 
LxOvcov' oi yap IxOves ndures o~xe- 
t)6v KapxcipddovTes elcriv. p. 33. 
^E^fi de — €crx L0 ~l x * vr ) v T *) v yXcorrav. 

p. 48. 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
Leurs pieds sont si courts, et 
tellement enveloppes dans la 
peau, qu'ils ne peuvent, sur 
terre, leur servir qu'a ramper ; 
mais comme les intervalles des 
doigts y sont remplis par des 
membranes, ce sont des rames 
excellentes ; aussi ces animaux 
passent-ils la plus grande partie 
de leur vie dans la mer, et ne 
viennent a terre que pour se 
reposer au soleil, et allaiter 
leurs petits. p. 163, 164. Les 
phoques ont — cinq doigts a 
tous les pieds — au pieds de 
derriere, le pouce et le petit 
doigt sont les plus longs, et les 
intermediaires les plus courts. 
Toutes les dents sont tranchan- 
tes ou coniques. p. 164. Leur 
langue est lisse, et echancree 
au bout. p. 165. 



THE ELEPHANT. 



The elephant has five toes 
on each foot ; though the joints 
of these are not very distinct. 
It has four teeth on each side 
of its mouth, with which it tri- 
turates its food, and makes it 
as smooth as bran : and besides 
these it has two very large 
teeth. It has a long and power- 
ful proboscis, which it uses as a 
hand ; for with this organ it 
takes up and conveys to its 
mouth both solid and liquid 
food. Its intestines have ap- 



Elephants have on each foot 
five toes, very well defined in 
the skeleton, but so imbedded 
in the callous skin enveloping 
the foot that they can only be 
recognised externally by their 
nails, which are attached to the 
edge of this hoof as it were. 
They have two tusks, which 
sometimes grow to an enor- 
mous size ; and either four or 
eight grinding teeth on each 
side, according to the periods 
of their developement. The 



APPENDIX. 



368 

Aristotle. 
pendages, presenting the ap- 
pearance of four stomachs : 
and it has two mammae placed 
by the side of the chest, near 
the axillae. The cub of the ele- 
phant sucks with its mouth, 
and not with its proboscis. 



*~E<tti be nevTabaKTvkov (6 ike- 
ifias) — rd re TrepX tovs baKTvXovs 
dbiapQpcoTOTepa e^ei rcov nobiov. 
p. 25. c O 6° e\e(pas obovras pev 
e^ei rerrapas ecf) eKarepa, ois nar- 
epyd^erai rrjv rpocprjv (Xeaivei 6° 
cocnrep Kpipva), x<°P ls ft* tovtcov 
aXkovs bvo tovs peydXovs. p. 34. 
Tots be e\e<fiacriv 6 pvurrjp yiverai 
paicpbs Ka\ Itrxypbs, Kai XPV™ 
tco acntep irpoo-dyerai re 

yap Kai Xapftdvet tovtco koX els to 
crropa Trpoarcpeperai rrjv rpocprjv, Kai 
rrjv vypdv Kai rrjv l-rjpav, povov 
t£)v {cocov. p. 14. 'O be e\e<fias 
evrepov e^ei avp(pvaeis e'xov, ware 
cpaivecrBai Terrapas KoiXias e^eiz/. 
p. 47. "^X* 1 ft* tovs paarovs 
bvo irepl ras pao~xdXas — ovk ev tco 
o-rr)0ei dXXa 7rp6s raj CTrrjdei. p. 
30. et 26. c O be aKvpvos orav 
yevrjTat, 6rf\d£ei tco CTTopaTi Kai ov 
tco pvKTrjpi. p. 191. 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
proboscis, terminating in an 
appendage like a finger, gives 
to the elephant a degree of ad- 
dress equal to that which the 
hand of the ape imparts to 
that animal. The elephant 
uses this proboscis for the pur- 
pose of conveying solid food 
or pumping up liquids into its 
mouth. The intestines of the 
elephant are voluminous ; it 
has two mammae placed under 
the breast, and its cub sucks 
with the mouth, and not with 
the trunk. 

(Les elephans) ont cinq 
doigts a tous les pieds, bien 
complets dans le squelette, 
mais tellement encroutes dans 
la peau calleuse qui entoure le 
pied, qu'ils n'apparaissent au 
dehors que par les ongles at- 
taches sur le bord de cette espece 
de sabot, p. 228, 229. Deux 
defenses qui sortent de la 
bouche et prennent souvent 
un accroissement enorme. p. 
229. Tantot une, tantot deux 
machelieres de chaque cote, 
quatre ou huit en tout, selon 
les epoques. p. 231. Une 
trompe cylindrique — terminee 
par un appendice en forme 
de doigt — donne a Telephant 
presque autant d'adresse que 
la perfection de la main peut 
en donner au singe. II s'en 
sert pour saisir tout ce qu'il 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIER COMTARED. 



369 



Aristotle. 
Camper says that in almost 
all points the anatomy of the 
elephant is correctly repre- 
sented by Aristotle ; the ap- 
parent inconsistencies arising 
from his having dissected a 
young elephant. Tom. ii. p. 
205, &c. 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
veut porter a sa bouche et 
pour pomper sa boisson. p. 
229. Les intestins sont tres- 
volumineux — les mamelles, au 
nombre de deux seulement, 
placees sous la poitrine. Le 
petit tette avec la bouche et 
non avec la trompe. p. 230. 



RUMINATING ANIMALS. 



All viviparous quadrupeds 
which have horns are without 
the front teeth in the upper 
jaw; and some indeed which 
have no horns have the same 
defect with respect to the 
teeth, as the camel. 

Of viviparous quadrupeds 
some are cloven-footed and 
have hoofs instead of claws, as 
the ox, sheep, goat, and deer. 
The same animals have four 
stomachs, and are said to ru- 
minate. 

With the exception of the 
deer, all ruminating animals 
have horns which are partly 
hollow, and partly solid ; the 
hollow part grows out of the 
skin, of which it is indeed a 
continuation ; but that part 
round which this hollow is 
fitted is solid, and grows out 
of the bone ; as in oxen. 

The horns of most animals 



With the exception of the 
camel and the musk, all the 
animals of this order have 
horns ; and all are without 
front teeth in the upper jaw. 

The feet terminate in two 
toes, each of which is covered 
with a separate hoof, and is 
opposed to its fellow by a flat 
surface ; from whence they are 
called cloven-footed. The ani- 
mals of this order are called 
ruminating ; and have always 
four stomachs. 

The structure of the horns 
differs in different species. In 
some the solid osseous part 
which projects from the frontal 
bone is covered with a hollow 
case, which grows over it from 
the skin, as in oxen, slice]), 
and goats. 



H I) 



370 



APPENDIX. 



Aristotle. 
are,, in their form, simple, and 
are hollow, except at their ex- 
tremity ; the horns of the deer 
alone are in their form arbo- 
rescent ; and, in their sub- 
stance, solid throughout. 

The deer alone, from the 
age of two years, sheds its 
horns annually ; the horns of 
other animals are permanent, 
unless separated by violence. 
Deer at the age of one year 
have merely the rudiments of 
horns, short sprouts, as it were, 
covered with downy skin. At 
the age of two years they de- 
velope straight horns like 
wooden pegs; and are hence 
called at that period TtarrdKiai. 

At three years their horns 
have two branches ; at four 
years, more ; and in this way 
the number of branches in- 
creases till the animal is six 
years old; after which the 
number is not increased. 

The horn at first grows as it 
were in the skin, and has a soft 
villous covering; and after it 
has attained its full growth 
the animal exposes itself to 
the sun, in order .to ripen and 
dry up this covering. 

TerpdiroSa evaip,a Kai tyoTOKa 
•— oaa flip eVri neparocpopa, ovk 
dpcpabovrd i<TTiv' ov yap e^ei tovs 
7rpo<r6lovs eVi rrjs ava> criayopos. 



Cuvier, torn. I. 



In the various species of 
deer the osseous projections are 
covered, during their growth, 
with skin resembling that of 
the rest of the head. This skin 
subsequently perishes, leaving 
the osseous horn uncovered ; 
and, after a time, the horns 
themselves are shed ; and are 
succeeded by others which are 
usually larger than the preced- 
ing; and these again are shed 
in their turn and replaced by 
others. 

The figure of the horn in 
deer varies according to the 
age and species of the animal. 



Les ruminans — ontl'air d'etre 
presque tous construits sur le 
meme modele, et les chameaux 
seuls presentent quelques pe- 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIER COMPARED. 



371 



Aristotle. 
eo-ri 6° Zvia ovk apQjdobovTa Kai 
aKepara, oiov KaprjXos. p. 32. 



Tcov be TCTpa7r6da>v Kai ivaifuov 
Kai £g>ot6k(ov to. pev iari — hicrxibr), 
Kai dvrl twv ovvy&v ^Xas ?X e£ j 
acnrep 7rp6(3arov Kai ai£ kol e Xa<pos 
Kai (Bovs. p. 29. 



Kai rerrapas eyei dvopo'ias koi- 
Xtas' a 8rj koi Xeyerai pr)pvKa£eiv. 

p. 46. 



Ta>v 8 4\6vrav Kepas 8i 6Xov 
pkv e^6i arrepeov povov e'Xatpos, ra 
S' aXXa KoTXa p*xpi rivos, TO 6° 
€0~xaTov arrepeov. to pev ovv kol- 
Xov €K tov depparos ntcfrvKe pdX- 
Xov' Trepi di [o] 1 tovto Trepir/p- 
poarrai to arepeov (K tcov octtcov, 
oiov ra Kepara tcov (3oa)v. p. 30. 
Ta)v de Kepdroov to. pev nXelara 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
tites exceptions aux caracteres 
communs. Le premier de ces 
caracteres est de n'avoir d'inci- 
sives qu'a la machoire infe- 
rieure. p. 246. Tout le reste 
des ruminans (excepte les cha- 
meaux, &c.) a, au moins dans 
le sexe male, deux comes, 
c'est-a-dire, deux proeminen- 
ces plus ou moins longues des 
os frontaux. p. 252. 

Les quatre pieds sont ter- 
minus par deux doigts et par 
deux sabots, qui se regardent 
par une face aplatie, en sorte 
qu'ils ont l'air d'un sabot 
unique, qui aurait et^ fendu. 
p. 246. 

Le nom de ruminans indique 
la propri^te* singuliere de ces 
animaux, de macher une se- 
conde fois les alimens — pro- 
priety qui tient a la structure 
de leurs estomacs. lis en ont 
toujours quatre. p. 247. 

Dans le genre des bceufs, &c. 
les comes sont revetues d'un 
£tui — on donne en particulier 
le nom de come a la substance 
de cet etui, et lui-meme porte 
celui de come creu.se. p. 252. 
Dans le genre des cerfs, les pro- 
eminences couvertes pendant un 
ttMups d'une peau velue comme 



' There can be no doubt from tbe stnicture of tbe horns of oxen, iVc. that 
the relative («) ouglit to be retained ; and the to xo7\ov ex tov Yi^fjutrot is evi- 
dently opposed to the to o-ti^iov Ik tui o<rr£uv. But the question is <iuite settled 
by the following passage from p. (>7> tuv Vt xtgdruv, k.t. >. 

D 1) 2 



372 



APPENDIX. 



Aristotle. 
KoTXd ear.iv dno rj)y 7T pocr(pvcrea>s 
Trepl to ivrbs eKnecpvKos eK rrjs Ke- 

CpaXrjS 00~TOVV, €7T CLKpOV 8' €J(€l TO 

crrepeov, feat eo~Tiv dnXa' ra be 
tcov eXdcpcop pova bi oXov o~Tepea kcu 
7ro\vo-xiBrj . p. 67,68. 'A7ro/3aXXet 
be ra Kepara povov eXacpos Kar 
eros, dp£dpevos dirb bierovs, Kai 
7rdXiv (fiver ra S' aXXa avvex^s 
e^ei, edv prj ri (3la Trr)pco6fi. p. 30. 
Oi p,ev ovv eviavcrioi ov <pvovo-i Ke- 
para, 7rXrjv wanep o~r)peiov X"*P LV 

dpxfjV TLVU' T0VT0 $' eCTTL (3pd)(V 

kcu bao~v. <pvovo~t be bterels rrpcoTov 
ra Kepara evOea, mddirep irarrd- 
\ovs' bio Kai Kakovo~i rore Tvarra- 
Xias avTovs. Tcp be rplrco erec 
biKpovv (fivovac, ra> be rerdprco 
Tpaxyrepov' Kai rovrov rbv rpoirov 
del eTvibiboaari p*XP L eroov. dno 
rovrov be opoia del dva<fivovo~iv. 
V. 258. Ta be Kepara (pverai 
oicnvep ev beppari to Trpoctrov, Kai 
yLvovrai bacrea' orav 8' avgr)6(bcnv, 
rjXidfavrai, Iv eWe^oocri Kai i-r/pd- 
vcoai to Kepas. p. 259. 

CETACEOUS 

The dolphin and whale and 
other cetaceous animals, which 
have not gills, but a tube for 
conveying away the sea-water 
received into their mouth, are 
viviparous ; and they respire 
air, for they have lungs : and 
hence, if caught in a net, and 
unable to come to the surface 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
celle du reste de la t&te, ont a 
leur base un anneau de tuber- 
cules osseux, qui, en grossis- 
sant, compriment et obliterent 
les vaisseaux nourrissiers de 
cette peau. Elle se desseche 
et est enlevee ; la proeminence 
osseuse mise a nu, se separe 
au bout de quelque temps du 
crane auquel elle tenait; elle 
tombe, et l'animal demeure 
sans armes. Mais il lui en re- 
pousse bientot de nouvelles, 
d'ordinaire plus grandes que 
les precedentes, et destinees a 
subir les m ernes revolutions. 
Ces cornes, purement osseuses, 
et sujettes a des changemens 
periodiques, portent le nom de 
hois. p. 253. La figure de ce 
bois varie beaucoup — selon 
Tage. p. 254. 



ANIMALS. 

Cetaceous animals remain 
constantly in the water ; but, 
as they respire by means of 
lungs, they are obliged to come 
often to the surface for air. p. 
272. The ordinary cetacea 
possess a remarkable appara- 
tus, from which they are called 
blowers, by means of which 



ARISTOTLE AND CUV1ER COMPARED. 



Aristotle. 
for the purpose of breathings 
they are suffocated. 



The dolphin utters a kind 
of murmur when it is in the 
air; for it has a voice, inas- 
much as it has lungs, and an 
air-tube leading to them ; but 
having no lips, and its tongue 
being not sufficiently moveable, 
it is unable to utter an articu- 
late sound. 

The dolphin has mammae, 
not placed in the anterior part 
of the bodv, but near the vent. 

The mildness and docility 
of the dolphin are remarkable. 

These fish swim in large 
flocks, and their swiftness is 
so remarkable that they have 
been known to spring over the 
decks of ships. 



The cetaceous animal called 
mystieetus has no teeth, but 
hairs instead, like hogs' bris- 
tles. 

Ae\(f)\s de kcil <f>d\aiva kcii ret 
aXXa KrjTT], oaa fir] e^ei ftpdyxia 
(iXXa (f)V(TT)Tripa, (uotokovviv. 'Aj/- 



373 

Cuvier, torn. I. 
they discharge through their 
nostrils a large volume of water 
which they take into their 
mouth with their food. p. 
275. 

Thev have no prominent la- 
minae in their glottis ; and 
hence their voice is nothing 
more than a simple lowing, 
p. 276. 



Their mammae are placed 
near the vent. p. 276. 

The general organization of 
the dolphin's brain shews that 
it possesses the docility usually- 
attributed to it. p. 278. 

The common dolphin, which 
is found in large flocks in every 
sea, and is remarkable for its 
swiftness of motion, so that it 
occasionally darts over the 
decks of ships, appears evi- 
dently to be the dolphin of 
the ancients, p. 278. 

The upper jaw of the bahenae 
is furnished with thin trans- 
verse laminae closely set, form- 
ed of a kind of fibrous horn 
terminating in a bristlv fringe 
at the border, p. 284. 

Les cetaces se tiennent con- 
stannnent dans les eaux ; mais 
comme ils respirent par des 



APPENDIX. 



374 

Aristotle, 
atrvei be ivavra ocra e^et (pvarjrrjpa, 
Kal Several top depa' 7rXevp,opa 
yap %xpv&iv. p. 167- Ato Kal Xa/u- 
(Savopevos 6 bek<p\$ ev tols biKrvois 
diroiwlyerai ra^ecos bia to p,rj ava- 
•nviiv. p. 215. 



'AcpirjO-i be Kal 6 beXcpls rpiypbv 
Ka\ p-v^ei, orav igeXdy, ev rco dept 
— ear i yap rovrco (pa>vr)' e'xei yap 
Kai iv\evp,ova Kal dpTypiav, dXXa 
rrjv yktoTTav ovk drrdXeXvpiev^v 
ovbe X e ^V <t>°~ T€ apBpov ti rrjs (f>o>- 
vrjs 7roi elv. p. 106. 

c O beXcpls e^et p.ao~TOvs bvo, ovk 
avco S' dXXa. TrXr}crlov ra>v apOpoav. 

p. 40. 

Tcov be Bakaa-o-Lwv nXe'iara Xe- 
yerai crrjp.e1a Ttepi tovs beX<p7vas 
7rpa6rr)T0s Ka\ fjpepoTrjros. p. 301. 

*Hbr) b' wTrrai beX(plvcov p.e- 
ydXcov dyeXr] dp.a Kai p.iKpS>v. 
Aeyerai be Kai Trepl raxvrrjros 
aTviara rov £<x>ov' a/Kavrav yap 
boKel elvai £a>a>i> tAxio-tov, Kal ra>v 
evvbpmv Kai tcov x e P (ra ^ (0V > Kai 



Cuvier, torn. I. 
poumons, ils sont obliges de 
revenir souvent a la surface 
pour y prendre de Fair, p. 272. 
Les cetaces ordinaires se dis- 
tinguent par Fappareil singu- 
lier qui leur a valu le nom 
comniun de souffleurs. C'est 
qu'engloutissant, avec leur 
prole, de grands volumes 
d'eau, il leur fallait une voie 
pour s'en debarrasser ; elle 
s'amasse dans un sac place a 
l'orifice exterieur de la cavite" 
du nez, d'ou elle est chasse*e 
avec violence — au travers d'une 
ouverture percee au-dessus de 
la tete. p. 275, 276. 

II n'y a point de lames sail- 
lantes dans leur glotte, et leur 
voix doit se require a de sim- 
ples mugissemens. p. 276. 



Leurs mamelles sont pres 
de Fanus. p. 276. 

Toute Forganisation de son 
cerveau annonce que le dau- 
phin ne doit pas etre depourvu 
de la docilite que les anciens 
lui attribuaient. p. 278. 

Cet animal, repandu en 
grandes troupes dans toutes 
les mers, et celebre par la ve*- 
locite de son mouvement, qui 
le fait s'elancer quelquefois sur 
le tillac des navires, parait re'- 



ARISTOTLE AND CUVIER COMPARED. 



375 



Aristotle. 
v7T€pdXkovTcu 8e 7z\oicov fieydXav 
Icrrovs. p. 302. 

"Etl de Koi 6 fxvs to icr/ros 686v- 
tcis fiev iv T(5 arofiaTL ovk e'x^h 
rpt\as 8e ojioias ietais. p. 72. 



Cuvler, torn. I. 
ellement avoir 6t6 le dauphin 
des anciens. p. 278. 

La machoire superieure — a 
ses deux cotes garnis de lames 
transverses minces et serrees., 
— formees d'une espece de 
corne fibreuse^ effilees a leur 
bord. p. 284. 



From the preceding comparison it appears that, with re- 
spect to those points in the history of animals, the knowledge 
of which was equally accessible to both writers, the descrip- 
tions of Aristotle are hardly inferior in accuracy to those of 
Cuvier. Nor does this observation hold with reference to 
the more common animals only : it is equally remarkable 
with reference to those which are of comparative rarity ; in 
support of which assertion I would refer, among other in- 
stances, to the description of the sepia, and of the chameleon, 
and of the evolution of the egg of the bird during incuba- 
tion. But I have perhaps already extended this compa- 
rison too far, and will therefore here conclude. 



ERRATA. 

P. 225. L 22. for medical read medicinal 
P. 232. L 5. dele the founder of 

P. 258. note, 1. 1. for Ammon or Hammon, which is the name read 
Ammon, an ancient name 

P. 343. L 7- for restoration read restorative 



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